Countries with most firearm freedom?

C

cannonfire

New member
I was just curious which countries were the least restrictive when it comes to ownership of firearms. I'm talking about established countries, not the Afghan/Pakistan border or the African jungle.

Some thoughts are the types of weapons allowed, easiness of access to weapons, licenses, etc...

Does the U.S. have the most (I hate to use this term because I feel like it is a contradiction) liberal laws?
 
If the US isn't at the top it has to be close. I skimmed the list of countries in the Wikipedia article on gun politics, and essentially all of them either Place heavy restrictions on gun ownership/purchases, or require registration.
 
Switzerland is a very pro-gun land. Government gives you a full auto and 1,000 rnds ammo. Those who work outside the country or are pacifist are taxed for not participating
 
In Switzerland, the allotment of ammo was only 50 rounds (48 for a pistol), but the practice was discontinued almost five years ago anyway.

Overall, I think Switzerland's gun laws are still more restrictive than those in most parts of the U.S. Carry permits are "may issue" rather than "shall issue", you have to obtain a purchase license before buying any gun in a shop, and while face-to-face transfers are allowed, there's paperwork required that isn't required here in most cases. If you buy ammo from a shop, the purchase is recorded in a logbook, and hollow points are only allowed for hunting.
 
Republic of Texas = First

IF the Republic of Texas had been listed, we'd clearly be first :D

When living and working in the Middle East in the 90's, I came to believe the vast majority of adult males had a rifle, typically a full auto AK-47. This was not typically a point of conversation, but once you got to know these guys they didn't seem to have a problem talking about it or showing you. As such I would have guessed the referenced %'s in Yemen and Saudi would have been significantly higher. The AK's were typically available for under $3-400 equivalent in local currency and without paperwork. As to the local laws, I don't know but the practice was very common.
 
I saw that too but That is only a fraction of the world countries
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I think it covers most of the 1st world countries and major 2nd/3rd world ones. Some places like Switzerland (and Israel?) have a lot of guns out there due to military reserves, but as far as I know are still pretty restrictive on personal guns, requiring registration and etc.

A lot of other places like the middle east seem to have huge black markets where you can get anything you want in 15 minutes, but officially guns are still banned or restricted.
 
Latin America is awash with guns. Mexico has full auto surplus soviet AKs EVERYWHERE. I didn't know anyone with a lot of guns like here in the us(25+), but there were people with one or two full autos and I don't know personally anyone here with that.

If you have lived in the US all your life you don't realize what effect rule of law has. In most countries the written laws are totally irrelevant.
 
Well, if you go by what people *have*, and not necessarily what they have *legally*, then any of the failed/failing states (such as Liberia) would have the U.S. beat seven ways to Sunday. But the OP is asking about countries with relaxed gun laws, not just countries with a lot of guns.
 
Latin America is awash with guns. Mexico has full auto surplus soviet AKs EVERYWHERE. I didn't know anyone with a lot of guns like here in the us(25+), but there were people with one or two full autos and I don't know personally anyone here with that.

If you have lived in the US all your life you don't realize what effect rule of law has. In most countries the written laws are totally irrelevant.
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I lived in South America for 10 years and have been working there for over 20 - having spent considerable time in Chile, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia and Brazil. It's certainly not "awash with guns." They are far less common there than here. And the rules in every country are widely different. Peru, for example, has liberal laws and there's a gun shop in one of the newest malls, while Colombia (just coming out of a 40-year civil war) keeps much tighter controls, and Argentina heavily regulates everything. I've never, not once, seen a civilian there or in Brazil with a gun.
 
I am going to go with Somalia and few other African countries with no/ little functioning governments. Mali for example was recently over run with Libyan Ex-pats armed with mortars, heavy machine guns and host of other small arms they took with them when they fled Libya. (gotta figure why its' not in the news lol)

With no functioning government you can have whatever you want.


So long as you can keep it that is.
 
OP specified countries with established functioning governments. So Somalia is off the list.

As I understand Switzerland has stopped or is currently stopping the practice of letting people keep their military issue rifle.

Basically most places where you see people carry guns, it seems to be in connection with some form of military service. The US is the only place with a strong civilian firearms culture where people can get guns just because they felt like it and why not? Without having to belong to some special group or organization.
 
Philippines

its the only country in Asia where civilian ownership of guns are allowed except crew served weapon systems.

you do have to file for a license for every gun. Gunshops release the gun to the owners once the license is released, which takes about a 2 weeks to a month.

well, just like in the US, we also have our share of anti-gun activist :)

cheers all....

...my very first post... :)
 
As I understand Switzerland has stopped or is currently stopping the practice of letting people keep their military issue rifle.
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My understanding is that they voted on it a couple of times and the vote was to continue as before. The military is considering a unilateral change though.

I'd hardly call Switzerland a model for gun rights though, not after they signed on to the Schengen Treaty. That thing looks like it was written by the MAIG coalition. Ammo registration? Still it could be worse.
 
Yea I'm talking about legally owned guns by civilians. From what I understand in Switzerland it is a mandatory conscript for males between 18 and 35 (I think) and they are required to have their issued weapons. Are there any countries that allow what we call NFA items?
 
Re NFA Title II stuff:
IIRC, New Zealand allows full auto firearms, but essentially prohibits the firing of them.
Many countries allow suppressors with little or no paperwork, provided you are licensed to have the weapon it goes on.
Canada has different rifle and shogtun minimum barrel length restrictions than the US for example. So what would be an SBR or SBS here, is just a "restricted" firearm up there.

In the context of the average person being able to go into a store and walk out with a firearm after a basic background check, or to be able to sell someone a firearm legally in a parking lot, I doubt the US is surpassed anywhere in the law abiding world.
 
Poodleshooter said:
In the context of the average person being able to go into a store and walk out with a firearm after a basic background check, or to be able to sell someone a firearm legally in a parking lot, I doubt the US is surpassed anywhere in the law abiding world.
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Well, some parts of the U.S., anyway. I suspect the laws of most countries are more consistant across the various political subdivisions. ;)
 
having spent considerable time in Chile, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia and Brazil. It's certainly not "awash with guns."
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I can only speak for Colombia as far as South America is concerned, but Central America is so chock full of guns its not even funny. Most of the are illegal however which does make it irrelevant to this thread.
 
I skimmed the list of countries in the Wikipedia article on gun politics, and essentially all of them either Place heavy restrictions on gun ownership/purchases, or require registration.
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This sadly describes my country, Maryland. :(
 
Yes, even Switzerland is moving away from their legendary gun rights. Nowadays, on public ranges over there, the range is restricted to vary particular weapons. I.e., you can't just show up with your favorite hunting rifle and pop off a few rounds, not unless it's on their list.

Also, their ranges are very structured, especially their rifle ranges. Every one of them is run as if it's a competition, with very strict guidelines on the positions and ammo allowed.

On the plus side, many of them have an onsite lounge that serves beer, their ranges are state of the art with electronic scoring systems and adaptable shooter positions. I saw one that the shooter boxes had a retractable floor, with a hole in the ground that had a built in seat, essentially becoming a ground level benchrest position.

To the OP's question, I think that right now the US has the most gun liberties.
 
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