Hunting and Weapons: Republic of San Marino, weapons census by June

Hunting and Arms: Republic of San Marino, arms census by June

di Benjo

April 28 2015

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Hunting and Weapons: Republic of San Marino, a census of weapons in possession of San Marino citizens will be carried out by 30 June 2015.

“In America everyone is armed: the people and the police. If you commit a crime you hear: 'Stop or shoot!' and you don't know who said it ”. So ironized the late Robin Williams, highlighting the differences with Great Britain where the policemen, the famous "bobbies", are not armed. In fact, each country has its own legislation regarding weapons and the possibility of possessing them, which derives from its own culture and tradition. For example in the United States of America the second amendment of the Constitution guarantees the right to possess weaponry. This is an aspect that has its roots in the occupation by the British and Spanish Empire.

The de facto amendment allows the possession of a weapon by the city militias and has been extended to private citizens by more than one sentence. The latest in 2008, the Supreme Court recognized the right of citizens to possess weapons, thus establishing that American citizens have the "individual right" to be armed, even as if it were an inviolable right like the right to vote and freedom of expression. Obviously there are limitations, such as the fact that if the weapon is carried it must be visible and must not have the shot in the barrel. This ease of purchase and possession has favored an enormous spread of weapons and there are cases of accidents involving, even tragically, minors.

In Italy, on the other hand, despite some recent statistics that the Peninsula fluctuates between the 4th and 5th as the largest arms producer in the world, the rules for possession and carrying of arms are more restrictive. According to an estimate of a couple of years ago, more than 2 million weapons were regularly held along the boot. However, a distinction must be made between detention and carrying of arms. In the first case, the citizen is authorized to purchase the weapon and can only keep it at home. In the second, with the authorization of the prefect, he can also take it with him and this case should include about one million Italians, divided almost equally between firearms and hunting licenses (of which about 100 thousand are skeet shooting licenses) .

In San Marino the question is twofold as the rules on weapons, although even more restrictive than in Italy, have in any case favored a high diffusion. On the one hand, in fact, the carrying of weapons was forbidden except for the police, while the purchase and the sole possession, even for collecting, was much simpler. Thus, from unofficial estimates that appeared in the San Marino newspapers a few years ago, it was assumed that on average one in three families possessed at least one weapon.

However, the rules in recent years have changed considerably, even several times, and also under pressure from Italy, so the new regime now provides for a whole series of checks and verifications that make the issuing of the purchase authorization more rigorous. Furthermore, the license of firearms, also extended to private security, must be authorized and the personnel must first pass psychological checks. The purchase of weapons and ammunition by Italians also fell within the new rules which, becoming more stringent, also led to a decline in the commercial activity of armories.

However, a precise picture of the current situation is still missing, so the government has ordered a weapons census which, after various extensions, will end on June 30, 2015. By that date, as the secretariat of state for industry has also recalled several times, all owners of firearms must adhere to the “firearms census”, which is carried out in the local Gendarmerie Brigades. The new rules prescribe the possession of a "qualifying title" for all those who intend to have a weapon, both for sporting or hunting activities, and for possession only. In the absence of the qualification, it will no longer be possible to hold a weapon, which in this case must be sold "to whoever has the right to".

The purpose of the census is obviously that of the emergence and regularization of the weapons present in the Republic as required by Law no. 122/2012 which went to more fully regulate a very delicate matter by introducing greater rigor for the recognition of the requisites necessary to hold, transport or even sell and trade a weapon. In this context, the law has also updated the sanctioning regime which is both of an administrative nature, but also provides for criminal implications, which can lead to imprisonment for several years.

(April 28, 2015)

Source: SanMarinoNotizie