The Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, has adopted amendments to the Weapons Act and the Explosives Act that simplify the acquisition, possession and use of firearms and reduce the administrative burden on gun owners and businesses, Estonian World reports. The outlet describes the changes as the first step toward a more liberal firearms policy.
Interior Minister Igor Taro said Estonia's existing approach to firearms had not kept pace with changes in the security environment. According to Estonian World, Taro said firearms matters have in some respects been overregulated, to the point that people give up on applying for a firearms licence once they see the bureaucratic process involved, and he described the amendments as only the first step in a broader overhaul of the act.
According to Estonian World, the changes bring Estonian law closer to the European Union's directive on firearms, set out clearer definitions of firearms and ammunition, and move firearms storage toward a more risk-based approach, including a lighter administrative load for collectors with smaller collections. People will also be able to hold bigger reserves of ammunition, a change meant to support national defence readiness, and the law clarifies the rules on how firearms and ammunition may be used and transported.
One change reaches directly into business activity: Shooting ranges and businesses selling certain types of firearms will be subject to a business activity notification requirement
, Estonian World writes. Besides that, the package updates the firearms registry's technology, gives owners more time before an acquisition permit expires or before an inherited weapon must be dealt with, and leaves the Police and Border Guard Board with more room to judge when a permit should be withdrawn.
Source: Estonian World, . The text above is our own summary; the words in quotation marks are the source's.
What this means for an Estonian entrepreneur
A business that runs a shooting range or sells certain firearms in Estonia should check, before continuing or starting that activity, whether it now needs to file the new economic activity notification created by the Weapons Act amendment, since trading without the required notification can put the business's right to operate at risk.
We prepare the economic activity notification and licence application documents a company files before starting a regulated business activity. Activity licence and notification documentation for an Estonian company