Permits for Acquisition, Storage and Carrying of Firearms

The Permit Regime and the Issuing Authorities

The acquisition, storage and carrying of weapons in Georgia are governed by a permit system. For an individual, the corresponding permits for civilian and service-status weapons are issued by the public law legal entity of Georgia — the Service Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. The law distinguishes an acquisition permit conferring the right of storage, an acquisition permit conferring the rights of storage and carrying, and an acquisition permit conferring the right of carrying, which applies to weapons transferred with service-status. The type of permit is determined by the category of the weapon: certain categories may be acquired with the storage right only, while others carry both the storage and carrying rights, and this determination does not depend on the applicant's preference.

Entrepreneurial activity in the manufacture, repair and trade of weapons is subject to separate licences. To obtain such licences, an applicant legal entity or individual entrepreneur must submit a written application, data on registration in the registry of entrepreneurs and non-commercial legal entities, a list of the staff directly engaged in the licensed activity together with information on their criminal record or deprivation of rights, absence from narcological registration and their mental condition, as well as a document confirming appropriate education or qualification — a certificate, a diploma, an organisation's recommendation, a certificate of passing one of the established examinations, or a document confirming retraining or military service. A certificate of compliance with fire safety norms in the building, a document confirming conformity of the building with the technical safety norms established by the government-approved technical regulation, proof of payment of the licence fee, and a recommendation of the Standing Commission on Military-Technical Issues of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia are also required. Where the licence concerns acoustic weapons, gas aerosol devices or electroshock devices, the consent of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia must be attached.

Who Has the Right to Acquire Weapons

The law defines the circle of persons entitled to acquire weapons and their main elements. The following subjects may acquire them:

• a person who, under the procedure established by Georgian legislation, is entitled to manufacture or sell weapons;
• the institutions designated by the law;
• a legal entity engaged in commercial, amateur, sporting or scientific hunting, or providing tourism services in that profile and meeting the requirements set by the Government — such an entity may acquire only hunting firearms, their main elements and signal weapons;
• the legal entity designated by a Government resolution for signal weapons;
• a person who collects and exhibits weapons under the procedure established by Georgian legislation;
• a citizen of Georgia or of a foreign country who meets the requirements established by Georgian legislation;
• the holder of a permit to open an enclosed or semi-enclosed shooting range or a shooting and hunting stand — for those civilian firearms and permitted hunting and sporting pneumatic weapons from which firing is allowed on that territory;
• a national federation of a shooting sport, a sporting organisation and their member legal entities — for hunting and sporting firearms and pneumatic weapons and their main elements.

The right to acquire ammunition and cartridges belongs to authorised persons only in defined circumstances: the ammunition must be intended for firing from a registered or recorded weapon owned by the acquirer. Where a weapon has been transferred into temporary use, ammunition may be acquired only for that weapon and only within the period fixed for its use. Cartridges intended for signal weapons follow the same logic — the cartridge must be intended for a specific registered signal weapon.

Types of Permits and the Registration Procedure

The Service Agency issues an acquisition permit with the storage right for defence firearms and sporting short firearms. An acquisition permit with the rights of storage and carrying is issued for defence gas weapons, hunting firearms, sporting long firearms and signal weapons. A permit of the same type is also issued for a defence or sporting short firearm where its owner retained the right to carry the weapon after the expiry of official authority, and for weapons owned by persons benefiting from official use that have been granted service-status. For weapons transferred to benefiting persons with service-status, an acquisition permit with the carrying right is issued.

After acquiring a hunting firearm, its main element or a signal weapon, the acquiring legal entity must register it with the Service Agency within 10 working days from acquisition, in the manner established by an order of the Minister of Internal Affairs. The same deadline applies to the holders of permits for shooting ranges and stands and to federations with respect to the weapons available to them. Until registration, it is impermissible to dispose of the weapon or to transfer the right to use it to another person. Registration results in the issue of a weapon registration certificate, whose form is also approved by ministerial order. In cases determined by the Minister of Internal Affairs, where a person acquires a weapon of a specific kind or type, an identical make and model, or a certain quantity of weapons, the consent of an authorised official of the relevant territorial body must also be submitted. The recording of weapons transferred into temporary use is maintained by the owner of the weapon or by the corresponding authorised person, who supplies this information to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The Examination and the Reloading of Cartridges

A person seeking a permit to acquire civilian firearms or gas weapons — with the right of storage or carrying — must pass an examination at the Service Agency on knowledge of the rules of circulation. The types of examination are defined according to weapon categories, including an examination in the knowledge of the rules of circulation of defence firearms and gas weapons. A certificate of having passed an examination may also serve as the qualification document submitted with a licence application.

The reloading of cartridges for personal use is regulated separately. An individual may reload cartridges intended for a hunting smoothbore, rifled or combined firearm, provided the cartridge is assembled using factory-made components or a fired case and is intended only for a weapon registered in that person's name. Cartridges for hunting rifled firearms may be reloaded only with regard to the parameters of a standard-pattern cartridge, without changing the dimensions of the case or the calibre of the bullet. This activity requires no licence, but only a person who has held a permit for a firearm, in total, for at least 5 years may exercise it. The person must notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the reloading in the manner established by the Minister, and the Ministry is authorised to verify whether the conditions are met. The sale or transfer of reloaded cartridges to another person is prohibited. A violation of these requirements — except in connection with the reloading of cartridges for a hunting smoothbore gun — entails criminal liability.

Grounds for Revocation of a Permit

The law regulates the revocation and non-issuance of a licence or permit within a single norm. A licence or permit becomes void in the following cases:

• the holder voluntarily renounces the licence or permit;
• the holder violates the conditions of the licence or permit, or the requirements of this law and Georgian legislation related to the circulation of weapons;
• an unusable weapon is surrendered to the relevant bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the established manner, or the weapon is written off or alienated at the Service Agency;
• the weapon is used contrary to its designated purpose;
• the holder develops a mental illness or their state of health makes it impossible for them to use the licence or permit, and the issuing body has become aware of this;
• the holder systematically violates public order;
• the holder develops alcoholism, drug addiction or toxicomania and the issuing body has become aware of this;
• a conviction judgement of a court enters into force against the holder — save for the enumerated list of crimes under criminal legislation to which this rule does not extend;
• the holder of an acquisition permit commits an administrative offence related to the circulation of weapons;
• restriction of weapon-related rights is imposed on the holder as an administrative penalty;
• confiscation of a weapon is imposed as an administrative penalty — in that case only the corresponding permit for that particular weapon becomes void;
• in cases provided for by an international treaty or agreement, as well as in other cases established by Georgian legislation.

Suspension of a Permit

Where information about a mental illness or a state of health, or about alcoholism, drug addiction or toxicomania, is received from the unified information database, the licence or acquisition permit is automatically suspended. At the same time, the holder retains the right to dispose of the weapon for 30 days from the delivery of the notifications provided for by the law. Suspension therefore does not amount to immediate revocation, and within that period the person may settle the fate of the weapon in the manner prescribed by law.

Deprivation of Weapons

The law separately defines the cases of deprivation of weapons: where no licence or permit exists; where the licence or permit has been revoked; where the rules of circulation of weapons are violated — until a final decision is made; upon the death of the owner of a civilian weapon, if conformity of the weapon with the requirements of Georgian legislation is not ensured within the period determined by an order of the Minister of Internal Affairs; in the cases and for the period determined by a protective, restraining or weapon-related rights restriction order issued against a violent person; in the case of automatic suspension of the permit; and in other cases provided for by Georgian legislation. Deprivation is an independent measure and is not conditional on the case reaching a court.