Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
European Commission. 2014 ‘Spain.’ Study to Support an Impact Assessment on Options for Combatting Illicit Firearms Trafficking in the European Union, pp. 166-167. Luxembourg: Centre for Strategy & Evaluation Services. 1 July
Relevant contents
Provision on the criminalisation of illicit firearms trafficking: Spain
The Royal Decree 137/1993 of 29th January, BOE 55/1993 ("R.A.") provides for administrative sanctions and fines for violations of its provisions, and the Criminal Code establishes a number of crimes related to firearms, including criminal penalties for those who possess or carry illegal weapons or carry weapons without the proper license or authorisation.
Article 2.22 of RA defines illicit manufacture as:
"The manufacture or assembly of firearms, their fundamental parts or essential components and ammunition, provided that occurs some of the following circumstances:
- Made from fundamental parts or essential components of such firearms illicitly trafficked.
- Without an authorisation by a competent authority.
- Without marking the assembled firearms at the time of manufacture in accordance with the provisions of Article 28 of this Regulation."
Article 2.31 of the Arms Regulation (RA) defines illicit arms trafficking in the EU as "the acquisition, sale, delivery, movement or transfer of firearms, their essential parts and ammunition from or across the territory of one Member State of the European Union to that of another Member State if any one of the Member States concerned does not authorise it or if the assembled firearms are not marked in accordance with article 28 of this Regulation."
Article 4.1 of the RA prohibits, among others, "the manufacture, importation, circulation, advertising, sale, possession and use of weapons or imitations:
a) Firearms which are a result of significant changes to the manufacturing specifications or origin of other weapons without regulatory authorization of the model or prototype. "
Art. 30.1 of the RA states that "it shall be prohibited to sell, acquire, possess or use firearms without marks corresponding to the regulatory testing, official test stands, whether Spanish or foreign recognized. Weapons included in category 6ª and 7ª.4 which are held or, if applicable, using the conditions of article 107, are excluded."
Chapter V of the Criminal Code "On owning, trafficking and deposit of weapons, ammunition or explosives":
Article 564 provides that "Possessing regulated firearms while lacking the necessary licences or permits shall be punished:
1. With a sentence of imprisonment from one to two years for handguns;
2. With a sentence of imprisonment of six months to one year for long firearms;
2. The felonies defined in the preceding Section shall be punished, respectively, by prison sentences of two to three years and from one to two years, when any of the following circumstances concurs:
1. When the weapons lack factory marks or serial numbers, or have these altered or obliterated;
2. Which have been unlawfully imported into Spain;
3. Which have been transformed, modifying their original characteristics."
Article 566 states that "Those who manufacture or market arms or ammunition or set up depots for these that are not authorised by law or the competent authority shall be punished …"