Argentina Takes Steps to Loosen Restrictive Gun Laws

Later today my colleague Tom Knighton will have a piece talking about the latest gun regulations in New Zealand, which aren’t exactly a step in the right direction. 

There’s better news out of Argentina, however, where the administration of Javier Milei has announced a new regulatory framework that will allow at least some Argentinians to purchase AR-style rifles and other semi-automatic long guns. 

To buy or possess these weapons, individuals and legal entities must be authorized by the National Firearms Registry and meet specific requirements, including proof of ownership, approved secure storage, a sworn declaration and documentation supporting the sporting use of the firearms.

Until 1995, these weapons could be purchased in Argentina with few restrictions, attorney Laura Tripodi, vice president of the Association of Legitimate Firearms Users of Buenos Aires Province, told UPI.

After that year, such purchases were prohibited, and acquiring or transferring these firearms required special authorization signed by the executive branch.

“For years, there was a legal gap on this issue. The heirs of legitimate users could not transfer these firearms because no other user met the requirements,” Tripodi said.

The decree signed by Milei grants the National Firearms Registry, under the Ministry of National Security, full authority to authorize the purchase, possession and transfer of these weapons.

For a libertarian, I have to say that Milei’s new rules, while an improvement over the status quo, still leave a lot to be desired. In addition to the requirements listed above, any “legitimate user” hoping to purchase one of these firearms must also have state-approved storage, pass a live-fire shooting test, and a psychological examination. They must also provide the government with the brand, model, caliber, and serial number of the firearm they’re seeking to purchase; which is likely to cause a huge headache for would-be buyers if the gun they’re intending to purchase is sold to someone else before government officials act on an application. 

Still, even with these draconian requirements, Argentina’s gun control lobby is not happy about the changes. 

Gun control organizations in Argentina, including the Argentine Disarmament Network and INECIP, warned that allowing civilians access to rifles and other semiautomatic weapons increases the risk of gun violence and facilitates diversion from the legal market to the illegal one, a main source of weapons for organized crime.

“The plan is to loosen carry restrictions, and they are doing it gradually. They are adding conditions now so that sporting use can be verified. But these are weapons that can fire in bursts. They fire bursts. They are not for target shooting,” said Martín Angerosa, co-founder of the Argentine Disarmament Network, in comments to the Argentine newspaper Página12.

I guess it’s not just American anti-gunners who intentionally mislead their non-gun-owning audience.  A purely semi-automatic firearm cannot “fire in bursts”. Select-fire rifles are, by their very nature, fully automatic, and will still be prohibited for civilians even under Milei’s new rules. 

As for the idea that semi-automatic firearms aren’t for target shooting, my guess is that Angerosa hasn’t spent much time at any American gun ranges, or if he has, he just doesn’t want to acknowledge reality when he’s intent on scaring the public about the changes to come. 

Frankly, I hope Angerosa is right about a plan to loosen carry restrictions, which appear to be untouched by Milei’s new regulations. The libertarian president has done wonders to curb Argentina’s deficit spending and get its financial house in order, but the country still has a long way to go before its gun laws are even close to what they should be. 

Editor’s Note: After more than 40 days of screwing Americans, a few Dems have finally caved. The Schumer Shutdown was never about principle—just inflicting pain for political points.

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