A refusal by the Service Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to issue a weapons permit, or the revocation of a permit already issued, must always rest on a specific ground listed in the law. Under the Law of Georgia on Arms, disputes connected with the circulation of weapons are resolved in court — which means that both a refusal and a revocation are subject to judicial challenge. A refusal letter is therefore not the final word: it may be the product of an incomplete file, an expired certificate, or an interpretation the law does not permit, and in each of these situations you have the possibility of a properly conducted dispute.
The service on this page is legal representation in refusals and revocations: analysis of the normative basis of the refusal, reconstruction of the evidentiary base, and preparation of your position for court within the deadlines set by the general rules of law.
When a permit may be refused — the grounds listed in the law
The law names the circumstances in which a permit is not issued: where the applicant suffers from a mental illness or his state of health makes it impossible to receive the permit; where he systematically violates public order; where he suffers from alcoholism, drug addiction or toxicomania; where he is an accused, or his conviction has not been expunged or annulled, and/or he was convicted of one of the offences named in the law; where an administrative penalty restricting weapons-related rights has been imposed on him and its term has not expired; where a protective, restraining or weapons-rights restriction order has been issued against him; and where the documents submitted do not meet the requirements established by the legislation.
Age criteria are likewise set by law: an applicant who has not turned eighteen, and for a defined category of civil firearms and gas weapons — including their import and export — an applicant who has not turned twenty-one. Separate grounds are failure in the examination or non-submission of the health certificate, the absence of a consent required by law, and information about an offence committed abroad. The formal character of this list is precisely where legal work begins: every ground is a requirement that must be proven and interpreted correctly.
Conviction-related terms — four, eight or twelve years
The law sets the term of the conviction-related restriction: after the conviction is expunged or annulled, four years must have passed for a less serious offence, eight years for a serious offence, and twelve years for a particularly serious offence. If a new offence of the same kind is committed before the term expires, the terms are added together — the law regulates this aggregation in detail. At the same time, the restriction carries an important exception: it does not apply to the issuance of a permit for hunting and sport firearms, except sport short firearms, and the requirements of that part of the law do not extend to signal-weapon permits either. Correct classification of the offence and correct computation of the term often change the outcome of the case.
When an issued permit is revoked
An issued licence or permit is revoked, among other cases: upon the holder's voluntary waiver; upon violation of its conditions or of the requirements of the law on weapons circulation; upon surrender of a defective weapon, or its write-off or alienation; upon use of the weapon contrary to its designation; where information reaches the issuing authority that the holder has fallen mentally ill or his state of health makes use of the permit impossible; upon systematic violation of public order; upon information about illness with alcoholism, drug addiction or toxicomania; and upon entry into force of a court verdict of guilt.
Separately stand the grounds connected with the Code of Administrative Offences: the permit is revoked where the holder committed the weapons-loss-related offence indicated in the law on a civil firearm, or where an administrative penalty restricting weapons-related rights or confiscating the weapon was imposed on him. In such cases the law provides for automatic revocation of the permit — and this is exactly where significant legal errors occur: automaticity must rest on the actual existence of the circumstance envisaged by the law and on its having become known to the designated authority.
How the appeal is structured and what we do
Disputes connected with the circulation of weapons are resolved in court, in accordance with the legislation of Georgia. Our work consists of: studying the notice of refusal or revocation and classifying its basis normatively; verifying the facts on which the Agency relied or should have relied — including the correctness of data obtained from the unified information base, on which the law confers a presumption of reliability and which can be contested precisely in court; restoring documentation — examination results are unlimited in time, and the health certificate is issued for one year, so refusals are often built on an expired or wrongly executed certificate; and preparing the court claim with the demands that fit your situation.
One practical detail deserves attention: if one of the bases for issuing the permit was a recommendation of the Standing Commission on Military-Technical Issues of the Ministry of Defence and that recommendation was cancelled, the issuing authority must decide on revocation within three days. That deadline, and its observance, is a separate check-point in the appeal.
Frequently asked questions
Can a refusal be appealed?
Yes — disputes connected with weapons circulation are expressly resolved in court by the law. A refusal must rest on a specific ground listed in the law, and the correctness of that ground will be examined in court.
Does a conviction bar the permit forever?
No — the law sets terms: four, eight or twelve years must have passed after the conviction was expunged or annulled, depending on the category of the offence. Moreover, the restriction does not apply to permits for hunting and sport firearms, except sport short firearms.
What if the refusal concerns health?
Such a refusal must rest on documentary grounds. Notably, in certain circumstances the law does not require health documentation at all — for example, where the person already holds a registered weapon or a driving licence. We check these simplifying norms first.
How fast is the revocation procedure?
Where the basis is cancellation of a recommendation, the law gives the issuing authority three days. Circumstances connected with administrative penalties trigger automatic revocation — and then the legality of the basis and the actual existence of the circumstance become subjects of judicial review.
How We Help on Legal.ge
We take the refusal or revocation letter apart norm by norm, identify its weak points and build a court position supported by evidence. Contact us — we will evaluate your situation and prepare the court appeal in the weapons-permit dispute, built on every ground of the Law on Arms.