Georgia embraces tougher gun laws

The Georgian Government is taking a tougher stance on the country’s currently relaxed gun laws and making it illegal for people to buy or carry guns without special permission.

In particular, 18-year-olds will no longer be able to obtain a firearm legally and the age of owing a gun will increase to 23.  

The Government believed the new rules acted as a preventive measure to further protect the lives and health of Georgian citizens. 

Under the new rules Georgian citizens over the age of 21 will have the right to purchase sporting, gas and dwarfs guns. And those who wanted to purchase, keep or carry a gun will be obliged to pass an exam about weapon safety and rules of owning a firearm.  

A person also undergo a special check to determine their mental state of mind, which will give authorities information about whether to grant that person a gun license or not. 

 The new rules also set standards for keeping a weapon. In particular, the gun must be kept in safety mode.

The new law will also be tougher for people who wanted to purchase or carry guns. If a person was found to be flouting the rules, they faced a four-year prison sentence instead of a fine. 

Heavier penalties will also be enforced for people who illegally carried a gun. The penalty for committing this kind of criminal offence was a four to six year term of imprisonment. 

People who had ever committed a criminal crime will never get permission to own a gun, officials said. 

In addition, people who had committed an administrative offence, including the minor hooliganism, drunk driving and resisting police, would also be forbidden from owing a gun.