Argentina Making Pro-Gun Move by Lifting Semi-Auto Restrictions

When Argentina elected outspoken libertarian Javier Milei, I expected great things from the South American nation. He’s a free market, free people kind of guy who took the highest office in a nation that has been plagued with problems. The dude has been compared to Donald Trump, but he’s far more of a pro-liberty guy than even The Donald.

I’ve been interested to see what he’d do, and what I’ve seen so far mostly looks good.

This, though, blows everything else out of the water.

President of Argentina Javier Milei signed a decree Wednesday broadening gun rights in the country by allowing Argentine civilians to purchase and possess semiautomatic weapons for the first time in 30 years.

The decree – signed by Milei, Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos, and Security Minister Patricia Bullrich – rescinds restrictions imposed in a 1995 decree signed by late President Carlos Menem that prohibited civilians from acquiring and possessing “semiautomatic weapons fed with removable magazines, similar to rifles, carbines or assault submachine guns derived from military weapons of a caliber larger than .22 LR” outside of very specific exemptions.

The new provisions establish a special authorization system for the legitimate civilian acquisition of said firearms overseen by the National Agency for Controlled Materials (ANMAC), a decentralized entity of the Security Ministry. Individuals seeking to purchase semiautomatic firearms must show ANMAC “proven sporting uses and other objective conditions established for this purpose.”

In the decree, the Argentine government explained its decision to lift the ban as necessary to reevaluate the control mechanisms of semi-automatic weapons in the country after 30 years since the 1995 restrictions were introduced.

Through the course of the past three decades, the government emphasized, ANMAC developed a “profuse administrative doctrine” on possible authorizations that led to more restrictive and rigorous criteria tending to restrict the granting of such permits “to a minimum.”

“Within this framework, the referred control mechanisms must reflect a particular balance between the possibility of acquiring or transferring such firearms, with the precautions derived from public or common security,” the decree read.

Unnamed government sources told the Argentine newspaper La Nación on Wednesday that the 1995 restrictions signed by Menem prevented individuals who had purchased the prohibited semiautomatic weapons prior to the ban from being able to sell, transfer, or duly register them. The sources stated that a “thousand” such cases exist in Argentina.

Now, let’s acknowledge that this is far from what we’d tolerate here in the United States. Having to show some reason to own a certain category of firearm is a big problem.

But this is Argentina we’re talking about here. Considering that no one could buy, sell, transfer, or otherwise own a semi-automatic for any reason was a massive problem. This is a big step forward.

Officials don’t expect a massive influx of people buying semi-automatics, but I figure that’s because there’s still the whole “good cause” thing in place that has to be dealt with. A lot of people who might want such a firearm won’t be able to provide such an excuse realistically.

Let’s remember, though, that dismantling a nation’s gun control regulatory framework doesn’t happen overnight. It takes steps, particularly when most people prefer at least some of that framework to remain in place. You have to take steps as you go, expanding along the way, until people get used to the idea.

Argentina had a massive economic crisis that led to a horrific amount of criminal activity back in the late 1990s. While these regulations were introduced just before the crisis, many likely remember that crime and have concerns of it returning, all without realizing how little the regulations did to prevent the unrest.

So, Milei and those like him have to reintroduce these freedoms incrementally, so this is hopefully just a first step.

But it’s a good first step. Anything that moves the needle back toward liberty is a win, especially for someone who is mostly a libertarian as well, by which I’m talking about me.

I hope to write more posts about Milei’s pro-gun actions in the future.