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Poitevin, Cédric. 2006 ‘Note d'Information.’ New Arms Legislation in Belgium. Brussels: Groupe de recherche et d'information sur la paix et la sécurité (GRIP). 21 June

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Note d'Information

On Friday 9 June 2006, a new arms legislation entered into force … the new Belgian regime now generally bans possessing and carrying a gun …

The new law has three main objectives: forbidding the free sale of firearms, improving the traceability of weapons and of their owners and finally, strengthening the regulation of the activities of gun dealers…

[A]rms are now categorized in three groups: prohibited weapons (such as automatic guns, weapons of war or nunchakus), weapons in free sale (most non-firearms, firearms transformed into non-shooting arms or weapons for collections) and weapons under authorization (any other weapon).

The possession authorization will be granted after a three-month practical and theoretical procedure coupled with police screening and a psycho-medical check and is renewable after a five years period. Every person wishing to own a weapon will have to provide a legitimate motive to do so. Only sport shooters and hunters possessing a licence for their activities can obtain derogation depending on their judicial record and medical history, their knowledge of the legislation and their ability to use firearms.

The authorization of carrying a gun is restricted to three years with an exception for sport shooters and hunters in the frame of their activities.

All weapons made or imported into Belgium will be marked with a unique identification number and registered in the Central Register of Arms. This measure will improve weapons traceability.

To this day, only 800,000 out of an estimated 2,000,000 weapons in circulation in Belgium are registered - and most of them wrongly …

ID: Q4982

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