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Strazzari, Francesco and Francesca Zampagni. 2018 ‘Firearms Licences - Italy.’ Between Organised Crime and Terrorism: Illicit Firearms Actors and Market Dynamics In Italy, pp. 243-244. Brussels: Flemish Peace Institute. 1 January

Relevant contents

There are four types of nationally valid licences to carry firearms:

1. Hunting licence. This allows the licence holder to carry hunting weapons only during the hunting season and only in game reserves. When transporting them outside game reserves, the weapons must be kept unloaded and locked in their case.

2. Sports shooting licence. Licence holders are allowed to transport firearms unloaded and stored in a proper case from their home to an authorised shooting range or to another safe place to practise shooting. A private area used for this purpose must be reasonably distant from roads and inhabited areas, and not accessible to unauthorised people. The licence holder can therefore transport his/her gun anywhere through the national territory, although these guns can only be used in the designated places referred to above and must never be left unattended during transportation. Six sports shooting firearms can be owned, while common arms (for hunting) are limited to three.

3. A licence to carry a concealed firearm (known as a licence for 'personal defence'). This allows a citizen to carry a handgun for personal defence. This kind of licence is usually much harder to obtain than the other two firearms licences, it must be renewed yearly (while hunting and sports shooting licences are valid for six years), and the applicant has to provide a valid reason for carrying a concealed gun (e.g. someone who sells valuable goods such as jewellery). Unlike the other two licences, this one is issued by the prefettura (prefecture) and not questura.

4. A special licence to carry for private security personnel. This licence differs from the standard licence to carry a firearm in that it has to be renewed every two years and costs less to obtain. The open carrying of handguns is not explicitly forbidden by law, but is de facto permitted only for on-duty security personnel. Some officials such as state police, prefects, and prosecutors can buy and carry guns for self-defence without a licence.The Ministry of the Interior does not publicly release official numbers of firearms licences, but according to a media source citing the ministry we estimated the following numbers:

ID: Q15440

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