Título I. Disposiciones generales

This Law regulates the possession and carrying of arms and ammunition within the national territory, in accordance with the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala.

This Law regulates the possession, carrying, importation, exportation, manufacture, commercialization, donation, transfer, purchase and sale, storage, removal from storage, transport, trafficking and all services relating to arms and ammunition.

The Army of Guatemala and the National Civil Police, with regard to the use and possession of the arms and ammunition inherent to their functions, shall be governed by their specific laws.

The State security forces, whose mission is citizen security and public order, may use all arms necessary for the performance of their function, contemplated in this Law as for individual use and handling.

For the purposes of this Law, weapons are classified as: firearms, compressed-gas-action weapons, bladed weapons, explosives, chemical weapons, biological weapons, atomic weapons, missiles, military booby traps, experimental weapons, improvised and/or artisanal weapons.

Firearms are divided into: military weapons or for the exclusive use of the Army of Guatemala, for use by the State security and public order forces, for individual use and handling, for civilian use, sporting weapons and for collection or museum weapons.

Compressed-gas-action weapons are divided into: air and other gases. Bladed weapons are divided into: military weapons or for the exclusive use of the Army of Guatemala, serial number, silenced or with high precision that not of up to thirty-six (36) inches and those whose The explosives are divided into: for industrial and military use. Atomic weapons are divided into: fusion of heavy elements and fusion of light elements.

Military booby traps are strictly military in nature. Hunting and fishing traps are regulated by the laws on the subject, with the exception of what is expressly regulated in this Law.

The Army of Guatemala may make use of the arms necessary for the internal and external defense of the country, in accordance with its constitutional attributions, provided that such arms are not covered by the prohibitions established in the agreements and international treaties accepted and ratified by Guatemala, or by express prohibition of this Law.

War armaments of international manufacture, even when they do not exist in the national inventories or arsenal, and all those firearms for collective use and handling, are for the exclusive use of the Army of Guatemala.

The security and public order forces may make use of all firearms in addition to those established in Articles 9 and 11 of this Law, the following: tactical military assault rifles, intermittent, continuous or multiple burst pistols, automatic rifles, mechanical-action or semi-automatic rifles, assault rifles; automatic carbines, machine guns, submachine guns and machine pistols, carbines and sub-rifles with submachine-gun frame, special-purpose weapons, short or shortened submachine guns, automatic or semi-automatic, rifle/grenade launchers, grenade launchers and others manufactured for the purpose of fulfilling their mission.

Description of weapons of collective use and handling.

Collective-handling weapons comprise: light and heavy machine guns, machine cannons, cannons, launching and aiming devices for grenades and impelled or propelled projectiles.

Firearms of warfare use, warfare explosives, warfare devices and weapons of special warfare purpose are for the exclusive use of the Army of Guatemala, with the exception of the explosives that specialized units of the National Civil Police use in the function of internal security, and those covered by the prohibitions established in the agreements or international treaties accepted and ratified by Guatemala. Also included are any type of grenades, non-industrial explosives and/or elements necessary for their launching, as well as firearms and their ammunition designed with special warfare purposes, such as those that were manufactured without being for sporting use and other characteristics applicable to warfare purposes.

Weapons for individual use and handling comprise: revolvers, automatic and semi-automatic pistols of any caliber, as well as military tactical assault rifles, intermittent, continuous or multiple burst-fire pistols, mechanically operated or semi-automatic rifles, assault rifles, automatic carbines, machine guns, submachine guns and machine pistols, carbines and sub-rifles with a submachine-gun frame, special-purpose weapons, short or shortened submachine guns, automatic or semi-automatic, rifle/grenade launcher, shotguns of any type and caliber, grenade launchers, automatic weapons assembled from patented parts and makeshift, rustic weapons or any modification for concealment purposes.

For the purposes of this Law, revolvers and semiautomatic pistols of any caliber, as well as pump-action, semiautomatic, breech-loading and muzzle-loading shotguns with a barrel of up to twenty-four (24) inches and mechanically-operated or semiautomatic rifles, are considered firearms for civilian use.

Individual and juridical persons are prohibited from the importation, manufacture, exportation, alienation, carrying, possession, storage, removal from storage, transport, trafficking, transit, commercialization and rotating services with respect to military firearms, their components and/or their ammunition, for the exclusive use of the Army of Guatemala and those classified as automatic, except for exceptional cases provided for by this Law.

Sporting firearms are those that have been designed for the practice of sports, both competition and hunting, and that are internationally recognized and regulated. They are permitted for sporting purposes, provided that the requirements established in the law are complied with.

Sporting arms are: short firearms, long firearms and hunting firearms. Short sporting firearms are: pistols and revolvers used in international, Olympic and other events, organized by the national shooting federations and sports entities recognized by law.

Long sporting firearms are: rifles, carbines and shotguns with a barrel length of up to thirty-six (36) inches, used in international, Olympic and other events organized by the national shooting federations and sports entities recognized by law.

Hunting sporting firearms are: revolvers, pistols, rifles, carbines, shotguns with barrel-length characteristics, range and/or power, that have been designed for such purpose.

A sporting or hunting carbine means those whose operation is mechanical or semi-automatic.

Excepted are portable, non-portable and fixed devices intended for launching harpoons, lines, illumination or signaling cartridges and the corresponding ammunition; portable muzzle-loading arms; percussion and tillage tools.

Compressed-gas-action weapons are pistols and rifles that, to propel a projectile, require the release of any type of previously compressed gas, whether actuated by plunger or bottled gas, and that use ammunition of up to 5.5 millimeters.

Bladed weapons are:

a.Personal or work use: exploration or survival knives, tillage implements or implements of any trade, art or profession, which have a known application; pocket knives whose blade does not exceed ten centimeters in length. Knives, tools or other cutting instruments that have a known artisanal, agricultural, industrial or other application are not covered by the provisions of this Law.

b.Sporting bladed weapons are: crossbows, bows, arrows, foil, saber and sword.

c.Bladed weapons for military use or for exclusive use by the State security forces: bayonets, daggers, poniards, stilettos, automatic knives with blades of any length and any object designed or transformed to be used as a weapon.

Knives with blades exceeding ten centimeters that are not automatic may be used in extra-urban areas.

All chemical compounds that, through stimulation by means of heat (friction, impact, electrical energy or a fulminant-type heat-producing source) change from the solid, liquid or other state in which they are found to the gaseous state, releasing energy in the form of heat and volume expansion, are considered explosives.

Those manufactured for war purposes, and the accessories and elements that increase the destructive power of the device that may be used for such purpose.

According to their type of action they are:

a.Deflagrants or low explosive power agents (black powder and smokeless powder).

b.Detonants or high explosive power agents (dynamite and others).

Warfare demolition accessories and the elements that increase the destructive power of the device such as directional boxes, shrapnel or others, are parts of explosive devices for warfare use.

Explosives for industrial use and for other civil purposes are considered to be: black powder and explosive agents duly patented and identified for such purpose.

Basic explosive devices are considered to be: those for military use and those manufactured or fabricated for war purposes.

Chemical weapons.

Toxic chemical substances, organic or inorganic, or their precursors, designed for warfare purposes, which affect the normal functioning of the organism of persons, animals and plants, upon coming into contact with them, as well as their munitions, devices and equipment, are considered chemical weapons; except when intended for purposes not prohibited by law and the international agreements or treaties accepted and ratified by Guatemala, provided that the types and quantities involved are compatible with such purposes.

All living means and their derivatives developed for warfare purposes (microorganisms and agents transmitting infectious diseases, their toxins and the means for their use, intended to cause harm or mass extermination of man and his food sources, animals or plants) are considered biological weapons.

Atomic weapons are considered to be: all those compounds, devices, artifacts and their munitions that use the principle of release of atomic energy to cause an explosion and the effects derived from such action.

War traps are considered to be: all those devices used in a disguised or concealed manner to cause harm, capture or kill a human being, whether or not explosives are used as part of the traps.

Those designed, manufactured and used exclusively for such purpose are considered hunting and fishing traps.

All those systems, devices or artifacts that are still in the development phase and that have usable potential to cause damage to organic and inorganic matter through the application of any form of energy, resulting from a controlled scientific process (laser beams, gamma radiation or others), are considered experimental weapons.

g.Authorize and control the operation of shooting ranges-

All artifacts or devices of illegal manufacture that by any mechanism cause firearm ammunition or any other type of projectile that causes harm to be discharged are considered homemade or artisanal weapons.

They are the chemical compounds contained in sprayers, powder dispensers, gasifiers or analogous ones, and electronic devices that only produce transient effects on the human body, without causing loss of consciousness and in containers with a capacity of up to 500 cc.