President of Argentina Javier Milei signed a decree Wednesday broadening gun rights in the country by allowing Argentine civilians to purchase and possess semiautomatic weapons for the first time in 30 years.
The decree – signed by Milei, Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos, and Security Minister Patricia Bullrich – rescinds restrictions imposed in a 1995 decree signed by late President Carlos Menem that prohibited civilians from acquiring and possessing “semiautomatic weapons fed with removable magazines, similar to rifles, carbines or assault submachine guns derived from military weapons of a caliber larger than .22 LR” outside of very specific exemptions.
The new provisions establish a special authorization system for the legitimate civilian acquisition of said firearms overseen by the National Agency for Controlled Materials (ANMAC), a decentralized entity of the Security Ministry. Individuals seeking to purchase semiautomatic firearms must show ANMAC “proven sporting uses and other objective conditions established for this purpose.”
In the decree, the Argentine government explained its decision to lift the ban as necessary to reevaluate the control mechanisms of semi-automatic weapons in the country after 30 years since the 1995 restrictions were introduced.
Through the course of the past three decades, the government emphasized, ANMAC developed a “profuse administrative doctrine” on possible authorizations that led to more restrictive and rigorous criteria tending to restrict the granting of such permits “to a minimum.”
“Within this framework, the referred control mechanisms must reflect a particular balance between the possibility of acquiring or transferring such firearms, with the precautions derived from public or common security,” the decree read.
Unnamed government sources told the Argentine newspaper La Nación on Wednesday that the 1995 restrictions signed by Menem prevented individuals who had purchased the prohibited semiautomatic weapons prior to the ban from being able to sell, transfer, or duly register them. The sources stated that a “thousand” such cases exist in Argentina.
The government sources also told La Nación that it does not expect a large increase in the acquisition and possession of semi-automatic firearms as a result of the decree, but that it will instead be another measure to give certainty to the users of weapons and to induce legitimate users to regularize their situation, while facilitating procedures “so that they do not get stuck in ANMAC’s bureaucratic circuits.”
“We want to make it easy to be within the law, that regularity does not have bureaucracy. It is convenient for the state to know who has weapons and where they have them. And to the citizens it is necessary to simplify the way to regularity,” ANMAC national director Juan Pablo Allan told La Nación.
Argentine law states that individuals wishing to purchase a firearm or ammunition must first obtain a Credential of Legitimate Firearms User (CLU) upon successful verification of his or her identity, address, and lack of a criminal record. Prospective gun owners must also pass a psychological and physical exam among other requirements. Upon obtaining a CLU, the individual can then request a firearm carry permit by complying with additional criteria.
According to the sources cited by La Nación on Wednesday, the new decree is in line with the Argentine government’s commitment to “deregulate and simplify the procedures that represent an unnecessary burden for citizens and, in this particular case, those necessary for the legal registration of firearms.”
The sources also stated to the newspaper that the government expects the implementation of a digital CLU and a complete digitalization of the entire process as the measure with the greatest impact on gun ownership in Argentina.
In December, Milei signed another decree that lowered the minimum age to purchase a firearm in Argentina from 21 to 18 years old. Government sources explained at the time that it was a “legal incongruity” that a person of legal adult age could not be a legitimate firearms user until reaching 21 years of age and that the measure reaffirmed the government “trusts in the maturity and responsibility of young people, promoting the safe and responsible use of weapons.”
La Nación stated that Milei expressed throughout his presidential campaign his intention to eliminate firearm restrictions in Argentina. Upon taking office, the Argentine president has taken initial steps such as first tackling the problem of hundreds of thousands of legitimate users whose weapon licenses expired “either because of a lack of interest or because they do not want to face the necessary formalities,” according to La Nación.
At press time, a bill introduced in the Argentine Congress aims to regularize gun ownership by simplifying the required procedures. At press time, the bill was approved by the Chamber of Deputies but is yet to be approved by the Senate.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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