Is AMERICA the ONLY country in the WORLD that allows concealed carry?

Most that allow licensed concealed carry (Canada, some Western European countries) have a much more difficult or impossible licensing process.

Yemen, I think, and some other Middle Eastern countries pretty much have an "anything goes" policy - full autos, etc.

I guess we're right in the middle theoretically (between full freedom and complete restriction), but freer than the majority of the world in reality.

I know the Czech Republic allows concealed carry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_the_Czech_Republic

They have to put those CZs to use somehow right?

In Canada:

Type 3 Authorization To Carry, (ATC).

http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/regu/sor-98-207/latest/sor-98-207.html

Pretty tough to get...

Quote:

"Yemen, I think, and some other Middle Eastern countries pretty much have an "anything goes" policy - full autos, etc.

I guess we're right in the middle theoretically (between full freedom and complete restriction), but freer than the majority of the world in reality."

I've never thought of the Middle East as being a beacon of Freedom.

Many countries allow their citizens to be armed, with varying degrees of bureaucracy, restriction and control. Most Caribbean countries have an application and licensing process.

Here in St. Lucia, all firearms require a permit and ALL handgun permits are for concealed carry except for special permits for sporting firearms which allow you to transport that gun to a firing range and require you to be a member of a recognised shooting association. With a regular handgun permit you are required to keep the gun concealed on your person and in your control at all times otherwise it must be securely stored. You are warned not to leave your gun in a vehicle because of the risk of it being stolen. If you own land greater than an acre in size, you can obtain an "estate license" for a rifle or shotgun. Licences are not easy to obtain as you must demonstrate you have a valid reason for needing a gun before a permit will be granted.

Generally, business people and professionals who own homes and/or property are a shoe-in for approval, but it is nowhere close to being a "shall issue" system and the whole process is quite subjective. Penalties for being in posession of an unlicensed firearm are stiff - first offense will net you an automatic $20k fine and a possible one year jail term.

All (legal) guns are registered by serial number and person to person transfers are not permitted. All sales and transfers must go through a designated and licensed dealer.

Of course, as with all gun laws, this only applies to those who abide by the law and the non law-abiding simply buy their guns on the black market.

Yemen, I think, and some other Middle Eastern countries pretty much have an "anything goes" policy - full autos, etc.

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Actually Yemen ceased having that freedom in 2007 under pressure from Europe and the US antis to impose stricter small arms controls. They spun it as a local thing, but it was primarily a result of foreign pressure to eliminate the freedom.
Thier per capita murder rate was lower than the US.

Since then they have outlawed most of it, but since its such a strong part of the culture virtually everyone outside the main city ignores it and carries as before.
It could be a important change even for Americans as Yemen was once a main location to register vessels for tax purposes and various liberties that went with the flag. So if thier laws are worse, and you are sailing under thier flag, it could effect your freedoms at sea.

Many other nations that in reality have almost anything goes do not officially allow that. For example you can find plenty of videos of tourists firing machineguns, RPGs, and tossing grenades in Cambodia online. But that is not legal according to thier government.

There is many portions of the world where what is done, cultural expected or allowed, and what is officially legal according to the capitol many miles away are completely different.
Almost everyone has an AK in the tribal areas of Pakistan, but that is not legal under Pakistani law.


Governments like control, the only real power governments have to fall back on if necessary to preserve thier authority is use of force. That is not as easy or effective against an armed population. So governments around the world seek to disarm everyone except thier own military and LEO forces.
This had been the case for thousands of years. It is still the case today. The only time governments want thier average citizens to be armed historically is when the threat of losing thier authority to foreign invaders is greater than the risk from thier own population. Such as England facing the potential Nazi invasion.
As soon as that threat is over they want thier subjects to pose as minimal a force as possible.
That is why the UN, represented by most national governments in the world can completely agree that reduction of small arms held by citizens across the globe is a strong priority. Regardless of thier disagreements with each other, they all want thier subjects easier to efficiently manage.
It is easy to rule millions with tens of thousands if only the tens of thousands have effective arms. Or rule hundreds of millions with only hundreds of thousands. That is why gun control is always at its heart about control. They may exploit crying mothers and what is thought of as the stereotypical anti to achieve that objective, but it is an objective of governments globally.

That said many governments have no problem with thier citizens having some minor arms that would never be effective against the armed men employed by the government. They primarily want the citizens disarmed of effective fighting arms that could be used to resist thier will or authority, not all guns in general.
Brazil's laws exemplify this example. They prohibit almost anything that can defeat body armor, including virtually all rifle rounds. But they have little to no problems with people having handguns, or carbines in handgun calibers. No problem with serfs having arms to kill other serfs, as long as they can not legally have arms that pose a threat to the "king's men", or today's version the government's forces.
It's not about crime, it's about control.
Many governments don't care if thier citizens have shotguns, and are limited to ammunition that poses no threat to body armored LEO or armored transports.
They have processes and permits and red tape, but they will allow those things, not because they are less deadly, but because they are easy for the government to still crush with force if necessary.
Very few governments though will let thier serfs possess effective modern arms on par with thier own forces. Like the most modern centerfire rifles, or other armaments that pose similar risks to thier troops.

Which of course was the whole original point of the 2nd Amendment in the USA when the founders wrote it. So every locality and every state was a threat to eachother and to the federal government. So everyone was resistant to tyranny from eachother. So the body of the people was always a greater threat than a force which could be raised and used against it.
The very opposite of what almost every government wants today, and has wanted since recorded history: absolute centralized power and authority with minimal potential resistance or threats.

Awesome post Zoogster.

Absolutely, excellent post.
Mexico has a CCW permit system, but you better have BIG bucks and be in the buddy system with some big names.

Germany and Austria issue concealed carry permits. Can't remember the particulars but they are easier to get in Austria.

I saw civilians possessing Uzi's in Israel in the 70's, not sure about handguns though.

Nicaragua is a nice up-and-coming stable Latin American democracy that allows both open and concealed carry.

I know when I was in Italy in the early 80's you could get a Porto d'armi concealed carry permit. They were very hard to get. I believe they are still available but I'm sure in the current state of affairs in Europe they are probably even harder to get now.

Ecuador allows concealed carry with appropriate permits.

"scurtis_34471 Nicaragua is a nice up-and-coming stable Latin American democracy that allows both open and concealed carry.
Today 08:05 AM"

Costa Rica allows ccw with a permit. As far as nicaragua being nice and stable one should look at their leadership. daniel ortaga of sandinista infamy. Also good friends with the nuts from venezuela and cuba. No caps used intentionally.


Len S

A nice post Zoogster. However, to play devil's advocate, those who want to rise up against government control do not typically do so with the pure revolutionary spirit. All governments, even democratic governments naturally act in self-preservation. Sometimes the alternative to what is there is better, but more often than not, it is not.

Armoredman, can you please post a source for that Mexico thing? I have been under the impression that firearm ownership by civilians in Mexico was strictly forbidden.

Switzerland comes to mind for some reason.....

I believe that in Israel, a license to possess is a license to carry, concealed or open. Lots of people carry there, both ways. But is seems most prefer open carry there, except security personnel, for some reason.

In South Africa, if you want to carry, it has to be concealed.

We do have mandatory registration too... takes about two years to get a licence.

Belize has a pretty good concealed carry license system as my sources tell me, and from what I gather you can even get a license to carry there if you're a US resident.

Belgium chiming in... Our Arms Act still contains a provision for a carry permit. No mention of it having to be concealed or not, though.

Some Wiki- Don't know if it is any good or not.

Unlike most European countries the Czech gun laws allow its citizens to carry a concealed weapon without having any specific reason.

Click to expand...

Slovokia

Gun licence can be issued for 6 categories (A - gun-toting, B - gun-holding, C - gun-toting for work purposes, D - long guns for hunting, E - sporting guns, F - guns collecting )

Click to expand...

Looks like the translator program could use a tweak - gun-toting?

....

I'd imagine Greenland and Iceland would have very comfortable Gun Laws.


Does any one know on this?