Wold Gun Control 2023

Firearms are not defined the same way in each country.

Some terms are used in several countries in the context of gun laws. These include the following:

• shall-issue: granting of a required license or permit is subject only to the applicant’s meeting determinate criteria laid out in the law; the granting authority has no discretion in the awarding of licenses.
• may-issue: granting of a required permit or license is partially at the discretion of local authorities. Some jurisdictions may provide administrative and legal avenues for an applicant to appeal a permit denial, while others may not.
• no-issue: granting of a required permit or license is forbidden, or, at most, allowed only in certain very limited circumstances.

Gun laws might be classified by countries according to some specific common characteristics:

• Yemen and the majority of U.S. states do not require any permit for acquisition of a majority of types of firearms, meaning that any non-prohibited person may buy them from licensed dealers.
• Some countries including Austria, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland are partially licensed, meaning that any non-prohibited citizen may buy repeating rifles and break-action shotguns from licensed dealers and a permit is required only for handguns and semi-automatic firearms.
• Some countries allow firearm ownership without good reason or with a simple declaration of reason. For example, in Austria, while the law requires an applicant to have good reason to acquire a license for a handgun, self-defense at home is accepted as a good reason. Canada and New Zealand do not require good reason for applicants’ acquisition of most types of long guns, although they require it for restricted weapons like handguns.
• Some countries require an applicant to show good reason to secure a firearm license. In some, like Poland and Malta, the list of good reasons and conditions that must be met is explicitly stated in the law, while in others, like Kenya and the United Kingdom, the law does not specify what constitutes a good reason but leaves it at discretion of authorities.
• In some countries, like China, Japan, and Myanmar, only people meeting narrow conditions are allowed to own firearms, and few licenses are issued.
• In a few countries, including Cambodia, Eritrea, and the Solomon Islands, ownership of firearms by civilians is completely prohibited.

Notes: 1.) Handguns: Countries marked “specific uses” allow handguns for hunting, protection, and/or security use only. 2.) Registration: Countries marked “firearm-dependent” have different regulations for different types of firearm (pistol, sport rifle, semi-automatic rifle, automatic rifle, etc.) 3.) Concealed carry: Ireland legally allows concealed carry for those with a valid permit, but no evidence exists that any such permits have been issued.