Acquiring, keeping or carrying a signal weapon without a permit (Art. 182³)

I have a signal weapon and no permit. What am I facing?

Part 1 of Article 182³ provides a fine of 600 GEL, with or without confiscation of the weapon. Confiscation is therefore possible but not automatic — it is a separate question decided in the case, and the wording of the decision will show whether it was applied.

Can I still obtain a permit after being fined?

Where confiscation was not applied as a penalty in a part 1 case, the note to the article gives the person 30 days to obtain the relevant permit. Within that period no administrative liability is imposed for acquiring, keeping or carrying the signal weapon without that permit.

Does that 30-day window apply to every case under this article?

No. The note carries two conditions. It concerns only an offence under part 1, and only a case in which confiscation was not applied as an administrative penalty. If either condition fails, the note does not operate, and nothing in the article extends it to part 2.

I gave the weapon to a friend. Is that the same offence?

That belongs to a different part: part 2 covers the unlawful transfer or alienation of a signal weapon. The fine there is also 600 GEL, but the text provides for confiscation of the weapon without the qualification found in part 1. The words "or without" do not appear in part 2.

What changes on a second occasion?

Part 3 raises the fine to 1,000 GEL with confiscation of the weapon. Part 4 raises it to 2,000 GEL with confiscation and adds a restriction of weapon-related rights for 2 years. Each of those steps depends on an earlier penalty actually existing on the record.

4 min·22 Aug 2026

What Article 182³ regulates

Article 182³ of the Georgian Code of Administrative Offences deals with breaches of the rules on the circulation of signal weapons. The provision is comparatively new: its current wording rests on Law of Georgia No. 452 of 4 April 2025. That recency explains much of what happens in practice: people often hold a signal weapon that has been in the household for years, in circumstances where a permit had never been in question. The article does not define the term itself. What counts as a signal weapon does not follow from Article 182³ and is a matter for other legislation, so where that is disputed the answer comes from the grounds the report relies on.

The article covers two situations: holding a signal weapon without the relevant permit, and passing such a weapon to someone else or otherwise alienating it. The fine is the same for each; the confiscation regime is not, and that difference is often the point that matters most.

The two base offences

The first two parts of the article read as follows:

acquiring, keeping or carrying a signal weapon without the relevant permit — a fine of 600 GEL, with or without confiscation of the weapon;
unlawful transfer or alienation of a signal weapon — a fine of 600 GEL, with confiscation of the weapon.

The fine is 600 GEL in both cases, but the text draws a clear line on confiscation. Under part 1 confiscation is possible without being obligatory — the article says expressly "with or without confiscation". Part 2 contains no such qualification. So when you read the decision, first establish which part was applied: it determines not only the sum, but whether the weapon stays with you. Look for the entry showing whether confiscation was imposed as a penalty — the 30-day note described below turns on exactly that.

How repetition escalates the sanction

Article 182³ deals with repetition separately and adds two further steps:

commission of an offence under part 1 or part 2 by a person already penalised under part 1 or part 2 — a fine of 1,000 GEL, with confiscation of the weapon;
commission of an offence under part 1 or part 2 by a person already penalised under part 3, or under part 4 itself — a fine of 2,000 GEL and restriction of weapon-related rights for a period of 2 years, with confiscation of the weapon.

At both steps confiscation is written in without qualification, and at the final step a 2-year rights restriction is added on top of the money. Because each step depends on an earlier penalty, what decides the step is whether that penalty exists and which part imposed it: the same question settles whether the figure is 600, 1,000 or 2,000 GEL, and whether the 2-year restriction of weapon-related rights is added on top.

Updated: 14 Oct 2026

Related Services

Losing a civilian firearm and failing to notify the police (Art. 180¹)Carrying a bladed weapon in a public place (Art. 181¹)Bringing in or carrying an acoustic (blank-firing) weapon without a permit (Art. 181³)Breach of the rules on carrying flintlock, matchlock and percussion-cap firearms (Art. 181⁴)Firing a weapon in a populated area or a place not designated for it (Art. 167)Unlawful keeping and transport of a firearm (Art. 181)Selling a cold weapon to a minor and failure to display the prohibition notice (Art. 181²)Breach of the rules on carrying gas aerosol and electroshock devices (Art. 181⁷)Breach of the time limit for registering and re-registering a civilian weapon (Art. 182)Illegal circulation of an air weapon and firing it in a populated area (Art. 182¹)Operating a shooting gallery, shooting range or clay-shooting stand without a permit (Art. 182²)Breach of the rules on keeping, transporting and carrying a signal weapon (Art. 182⁴)Acoustic, gas and electroshock weapons without a licence (Art. 182⁶)