Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
Latvia. 2003 ‘Technical Classification of Weapons, Munitions and Pyrotechnic Articles.’ Law on the Handling of Weapons; Chapter II (Section 5). Riga: The Saeima of the Republic of Latvia. 1 January
Relevant contents
Section 5. Technical Classification of Weapons, Munitions and Pyrotechnic Articles
(1) Weapons and munitions shall be classified into categories A, B, C, D and a category of pneumatic weapons in conformity with the technical characteristics thereof.
(2) Category A weapons and munitions are the following:
1) military explosive missiles, launching equipment thereof and grenade launchers;
2) automatic firearms;
3) firearms that are camouflaged as other objects;
4) munitions with armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary bullets or bullets of such munitions (armour-piercing munitions - military munitions the shell of which has been enclosed in a hard case and contains an armour piercing hard core; explosive munitions - military munitions the shell of which contains explosives the explosion of which is caused by an impact against a target; incendiary munitions - military munitions the shell of which has been filled with chemical substances, which start burning as the result of a burst of air or as the result of an impact against a target);
5) cartridges of guns and revolvers with expansive bullets (expansive bullet - a firearm hollow-pointed bullet or a bullet, which having entered a target splits or expands); and
6) components of the weapons referred to in Clauses 1-3 of this Paragraph, and the munitions and individual accessories provided for such weapons.
(3) Category B weapons and munitions are the following:
1) semi-automatic or non-automatic short-barrelled firearms;
2) single-shot short-barrelled firearms the munitions of which have a central capsule;
3) single-shot short-barrelled firearms the total length of which is less than 280 millimetres and the munitions of which are rimfire cartridges;
4) semi-automatic long-barrelled firearms the total capacity of cartridge chamber and magazine (cartridge feeding mechanism) of which is more than three cartridges;
5) semi-automatic long-barrelled firearms the total capacity of cartridge chamber and magazine of which is not more than three cartridges, but the magazine is movable, or which utilising simple instruments may be modified into such a firearm the total capacity of cartridge chamber and magazine of which is more than three cartridges;
6) non-automatic and semi-automatic smooth-bore firearms the total length of the barrel of which does not exceed 600 millimetres;
7) semi-automatic firearms, which are not military firearms and visually look like automatic firearms; and
8) components of the weapons referred to in this Paragraph, and munitions and individual accessories provided for such weapons.
(4) Category C weapons and munitions are the following:
1) non-automatic long-barrelled firearms except the firearms referred to in Paragraph three, Clause 6 of this Section;
2) single-shot long-barrelled rifled firearms;
3) semi-automatic long-barrelled firearms except the firearms referred to in Paragraph three, Clauses 4, 5, 6 and 7 of this Section;
4) single-shot short-barrelled firearms the total length of which is not less than 280 millimetres and the munitions of which are rimfire cartridges; and
5) components of the weapons referred to in this Paragraph, and munitions and individual accessories provided for such weapons.
(5) Category D firearms are single-shot long-barrelled smoothbore firearms.
(6) The pneumatic weapons category includes high-energy pneumatic weapons and low energy pneumatic weapons.
(7) Pyrotechnic articles are classified in classes 1, 2, 3 and 4 pyrotechnic articles and military pyrotechnics. The Cabinet shall prescribe the classification criteria of pyrotechnic articles and the procedures by which the State Police shall determine the conformity of pyrotechnic articles to the particular class.
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