Título VII. Disposiciones transitorias, finales y derogatorias

A time limit of six (6) months is established, counted from the day on which the present Law enters into force, for all persons possessing unregistered firearms to register them with DIGECAM, under the conditions regulated in the present Law.

To register firearms, ownership thereof shall be justified by means of one of the following means:

a)Invoice or certification from the establishment where it was purchased, whether domestic or foreign, and in case of loss, robbery, theft or destruction of said document, the respective complaint shall be filed before the competent authority.

b)Certified copy of the public deed evidencing the transfer of ownership, whether by onerous or gratuitous title.

c)Exceptionally, when there is no other means to prove ownership of the weapon, and for a time limit expiring on January thirty-one, two thousand twenty, such justification shall be made by sworn statement by means of public deed before an active collegiate notary, with all requirements established by law for the corresponding register having to be met. This sworn statement shall constitute justification of ownership, both for first register of firearms and for transfer of ownership between private individuals, with the interested party having to present, in addition, for the latter case, the original possession card and the firearm for verification of data and characteristics. In case of transfer of ownership between private individuals, DIGECAM shall proceed to register the same provided there is no complaint of robbery or loss thereof, or any other legal circumstance preventing it.

d)Certification issued by DIGECAM, evidencing the data of the firearm and the name of the current owner, as well as the number of the Unique Identification Code –CUI– or neighborhood identity card thereof, which certification shall be valid for thirty (30) days counted from the date of its issuance. This certification shall be issued by DIGECAM within a time limit of no more than five (5) working days from the request of the interested party.

Transfer of DIGECAM to the Ministry to establish or carry out the transfer of DIGECAM from the Ministry of National Defense to the Ministry of the Interior, within a time limit of two (2) years.

The transfer shall be effected if the security conditions are consistent with the guarantees established in Articles 1 and 2 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala.

The establishments for the purchase and sale of firearms and ammunition referred to in Article 56 of this Law, which already have authorization, shall comply with the requirements established in said Article within a time limit of no more than three (3) months.

For purposes of the investigation and prosecution of the crimes of illicit trafficking, obliteration, suppression or illicit alteration of firearm marks and illicit manufacture of firearms, the provisions on organized crime crimes, special aggravating circumstances, means, special methods of investigation and criminal prosecution, precautionary measures, accessory penalties, as well as the rules on collaborators and means of challenge contained in the Law Against Organized Crime, Decree Number 21-2006 of the Congress of the Republic, apply.

Natural or juridical persons shall pay for a firearm carrying license the sum indicated by the Regulation, to be paid at the time the license is issued, directly at the offices of DIGECAM, which shall become part of the exclusive funds of said agency, to be used for its administration and operating expenses.

Validity of licenses for the purchase and sale of firearms and ammunition, operation of shooting ranges and gunsmith workshops. Every license issued by DIGECAM to a natural person or legal person engaged in the purchase and sale of firearms and ammunition, to shooting ranges and to gunsmith workshops, shall be valid for five (5) years, with any change in the information provided at the time of the license application required to be reported. Each renewal application must comply with all the requirements requested for the first license.

Only firearms may be registered at DIGECAM; consequently, military bladed weapons or those for the exclusive use of the Army of Guatemala referred to in subparagraph c) of Article 13 of this Law, as they are not registrable, shall remain on deposit at DIGECAM.

FROM THE PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC War devices such as explosives and similar items, due to their inherent dangerousness, shall be stored in suitable places at the disposal of the Ministry of National Defense, for their safekeeping, maintenance, use or destruction as applicable.

Forfeiture in favor of the State of Guatemala is decreed, through the actions authorized for such purpose by the competent judges, of the arms classified in this Law that are in deposit in the Department of Arms and Munitions Control and those remaining in deposit in DIGECAM whose proceedings have concluded, which may pass, after their marking and registration, in favor of the State security institutions; those determined to be unserviceable shall be destroyed immediately.

Prior authorizations.

All prior authorizations, licenses and other documentation issued by DECAM shall retain their validity and force until the date of their expiry. They shall be renewed by DECAM during the transition period lasting for the process of transfer from DECAM to DIGECAM and by the new General Directorate, when said period concludes.

Firearm possession cards issued by DECAM shall remain in force until April 28, 2014, a time limit during which they shall re-register the ballistic fingerprint. The accounting controls and records, inventories, assets, physical and electronic databases, as well as the funds managed by DECAM by way of cost recovery, shall become part of the accounting controls and records, inventories, assets and private funds of DIGECAM, without further formality upon the entry into force of this Decree and with the objective of better functioning and fulfillment of the functions entrusted to the General Directorate for the Control of Arms and Ammunition.

The Executive Branch shall issue the Regulation of this Law, within the three (3) months following its entry into force.

DIGECAM is empowered to obtain funds through the services it provides, as a consequence of its functions and of the assigned administrative competence in accordance with the current tariff; the funds received under this concept shall be allocated to the maintenance and updating expenses of the digital database of ballistic fingerprints, for the purpose of recovering the costs and expenses invested in the provision of such services. Funds which shall be considered as private funds of DIGECAM.

The Executive Branch shall conduct a campaign for the dissemination of this Law.

Decree Number 39-89 and its amendments, all of the Congress of the Republic; subsection 11) of Article 5 of Decree Number 37-92 of the Congress of the Republic, Law of the Tax on Fiscal Stamps and Special Paper for Protocols; as well as all laws, provisions and regulations that are contrary to this Law, are repealed.

This Decree shall enter into force eight days after its publication in the Official Gazette.