Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, the law regulates the sale, possession, and use of

firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes c ...

and

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

. As an

unincorporated territory Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sover ...

of the United States, Puerto Rico is an "appurtenant jurisdiction" to which the

Insular cases The Insular Cases are a series of opinions by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1901 about the status of U.S. territories acquired in the Spanish–American War. Some scholars also include cases regarding territorial status decided up unti ...

apply. Except for provisions of the U.S. Constitution that apply by their own force, only those constitutional provisions extended by Congress apply to any of the appurtenant jurisdictions. Firearm licenses and firearm-related crimes are defined in Act 404 of 2000. On December 11, 2019, Governor

Wanda Vázquez Garced Wanda Emilia Vázquez Garced (born July 9, 1960) is a Puerto Rican politician and attorney who served as Governor of Puerto Rico from 2019 to 2021. Prior to her tenure as governor, she served as the 19th secretary of Justice, from 2017 to 201 ...

signed the Puerto Rico Weapons Act of 2020, which went into effect on January 1, 2020. The law lowered fees, implemented a

shall issue Concealed carry, or carrying a concealed weapon (CCW), is the practice of carrying a weapon (such as a handgun) in public in a concealed manner, either on one's person or in close proximity. CCW is often practiced as a means of self-defense. Every ...

regimen, combined the possession license and carry license into a single license, instituted carry reciprocity and

stand your ground A stand-your-ground law (sometimes called "line in the sand" or "no duty to retreat" law) provides that people may use deadly force when they reasonably believe it to be necessary to defend against certain violent crimes (right of self-defense) ...

Summary table

Licensing process

Individuals seeking to obtain a firearms license in Puerto Rico must complete a notarized license application using form PR-329, Application for Weapons License. With the completed form, individuals must also provide proof of their social security number, proof of date of birth and legal presence in the territory, a copy of their drivers license or other form of non-passport identification, a recent headshot photo, certificate of negative criminal record no more than 30 days old, a $200 check, and must be fingerprinted by the Police Bureau. Additionally, the applicant must be at least 21 years of age and must not meet the definition of a prohibited person under Section 922(g) of the

Gun Control Act of 1968 The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA or GCA68) is a U.S. federal law that regulates the firearms industry and firearms ownership. Due to constitutional limitations, the Act is primarily based on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by generally ...

. Given that the applicant meets these requirements, the law requires the Police Bureau to approve the application within 30 days of submission as of 2021. The license holder may only purchase ammunition of the firearms'

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...

. After the license is granted, the police are authorized to "passively, without disturbing the peace and tranquility of the individual under investigation or violating the privacy of the home" continue investigating the license holder to ensure that no false information was provided by the applicant during the application process. The license must be renewed every five years by submitting a sworn statement and paying a $100 fee. Applications for gun licenses rose by 70% after

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Saffir–Simpson scale#Category 5, Category 5 Tropical cyclone, hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the wo ...

in 2017 due to concerns over the widespread electrical outage and police absenteeism.

History

In 2015, as a result of a

class-action lawsuit A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...

with over 800 plaintiffs, a lower court ruled that several provisions of the existing law were unconstitutional. The ruling was overturned after the state government appealed. The Puerto Rico Supreme Court declined to hear the case, leaving the appellate court's ruling in place. In September 2016, a firearms instruction company sued the state government in federal court, arguing the unconstitutionality of several provisions of the law. There has been no ruling as of September 2020."Cruz-Kerkado v. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (3:16-cv-02748)"
CourtListener. Retrieved September 1, 2020.

References

External links

Guns in Puerto Rico: Locked and Loaded in the Tropics - National_Rifle_Association Presence in Puerto Rico
{{Americas topic, Gun laws in Law of Puerto Rico