Maltese law allows possession of various types of firearms on shall-issue basis. With approximately 28 civilian firearms per 100 people, Malta is the
18th most armed country in the world.
History
In 1931, the "Arms Ordnance" was enacted under
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
colonial rule which allowed firearm possession on may-issue basis.
In 2005 new firearm law was passed and went into effect in 2006. The law removed police's discretion in granting firearm licenses. In 2013, the law was amended once again changing some firearm categories, for example requiring a license to own blank-firing guns and eliminating license requirements for
harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, seal hunting, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the t ...
s.
Current law
Maltese law divides firearm licenses into following categories:
* Target Shooting License A;
* Target Shooting License B;
* Collection License A;
* Collection License B.
To get firearm license one must join a shooting or collectors club for training, which will issue a recommendation letter for the police, after which applicant must pass knowledge of firearm safety and the Arms Act. After successfully completing every step one will get license. Carrying loaded firearms outside of hunting grounds or shooting range is illegal. Fully automatic firearms are allowed only if they were produced before 1946.
Firearm ownership
There are 129,423 registered firearms (or 25 per 100 people) in Malta, including 66,000
shotgun
A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...
s, 18,992 pistols, 17,241 rifles, 7,552 revolvers, 1,023 tactical shotguns, 705 submachine guns, 565 general purpose machine guns, 43 assault rifles, 28 cannons, 11 firearms concealed in walking sticks, four mortars and two rocket launchers. They are owned by 39,143 registered firearm owners.
130,000 firearms in Malta (and two rocket launchers)
15 May 2020
See also
* Overview of gun laws by nation
Gun laws and policies, collectively referred to as firearms regulation or gun control, regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, and use of small arms by civilians. Laws of some countries may afford civilians a right t ...
References
External links
*
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gun lawa in Malta
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
Law of Malta