SEESAC. 2005 ‘Total Civilian Firearm Ownership - Bulgaria (1991-2003).’ SEESAC Taming the Arsenal – Small Arms and Light Weapons in Bulgaria (2005), p. 5. Belgrade: South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC). 15 March

Relevant contents

Figure 1: Number of registered firearms in Bulgaria.

Year: Self-Defence - Businesses - Hunting - [Total]
2003: 125,497 - 28,675 - 151,452 - [305,624]
2002: 114,729 - 44,075 - 148,740 - [307,544]
2001: 100,699 - 37,620 - 150,396 - [288,715]
2000: 79,775 - 35,453 - 142,989 - [258,217]
1999: 44,921 - 22,825 - 144,798 - [212,544]
1998: 26,952 - 19,971 - 141,549 - [188,472]
1997: 15,203 - 53,677 - 131,848 - [200,728]
1996: - - 58,310 - 126,946 - [185,256]
1995: - - 30,062 - 125,858 - [155,920]
1994: - - 24,567 - 116,508 - [141,075]
1993: - - 21,877 - 109,590 - [131,467]
1992: - - 23,881 - 112,976 - [136,857]
1991: - - 17,067 - 19,546 - [36,613]

Until 1991, civilian possession of firearms was limited to hunters and sportsmen under a highly restrictive domestic arms control system dating from the Communist period. (…) With the passing of Communism the country has gradually liberalised its system for civilian weapons possession, allowing certain categories of civilians, including private security guards, to possess and carry weapons. Figure 1 below charts the gradual rise in the number of weapons in circulation from 1991 onwards. The first notable increase in the number of registered weapons occurred in 1992 when the government passed a decree requiring the re-registration of all civilian weapons.(4) As the graph below shows, some 100,000 weapons were registered following the decree. (…)

At the end of 1996, amendments to the law which then governed domestic firearms possession, the Regulation of the Law on Explosive Substances, Arms and Ammunition, allowed private individuals to obtain firearms for protection of their business or for work in private security firms.(6) This law was eventually repealed altogether and a new Law on the Control of Explosive Substances, Firearms and Ammunition (LCESFA), allowing firearm possession for self-defence for the first time, was introduced in November 1998.(7)

Notes
4) The Decree also required all government institutions to provide an exact account of the firearms in their possession. Decision No. 167 of the Council of Ministers for Re-registration of Firearms, used by Legal Entities and Private Individuals, from 4 May 1992.
6) Amendments to the Regulation of the Law on Control of Explosives, Firearms, and Ammunition, State Gazette number 79, 17 September 1996.
7) LCESFA, State Gazette number 133, 11 November 1998. A subsequent regulation on the law's implementation was introduced in September 1999.

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