hi since a few of you asked about the process for owning firearms in France, here is the process:

First of all, let me introduce myself, French, ex-french Army, one tour in Europe (90's eastern countries..)

I own:

AR15:
S&W MP15 sportII 16“

Revolver:
S&W 27-2 5“ (1975),
S&W 27-2 6,1/2“ (1986),

Pistol:
H&K SFP9 (2020),
S&W 659 (1992),
S&W M39 (1973),
COLT 1911A1 (1991),
SIG P226 (1992),
Beretta PX4 (2008)


In France, guns are categorized in 4 categories, A B C D

A= full auto firearms -> only for army and administrations,
B= semi auto -> Civilian sport shooters (my case)
C= Single shot firearms (for exemple = winchester lever action, Ruger Precision riffle 6.5 creedmore etc...)
D= collection firearms neutralized.

So cat. A = i can not access. Cat. C = you can buy as much you want, no limitation just with your french NRA licence and range membership.

B is the most complicated, here is the process:

YOU MUST +18
1- go to range club and get licence for sport shooting and a membersihp at the club, your id will be enter to the firearms prohibition register (FINIADA). If you failed (you did something wrong in the past??) evertying stop here, no more chance for you, never ever.

2- Go to your doctor and ask a sport Certificat (he can refuse if he detect something wrong in your capacity to hold a gun, physically or mentally). If you dont get it everything stop here for you definitely.

3- spend at least 2 month at the 11 yards range with Pellet pistol,

4- Go to see a doctor for a psychiatric analysis & comportemental (the last one is clearly to detect how is dramatic or not you religious conviction...) and ask him to sign your recent licence card, If you dont get it everything stop here for you definitely. not more chance

5- Back at the range you are officially member of the French sport shooting federation.

6- you must do 13 shooting session pistol 22LR 27 yards (only 1 per day) with your shooting director (if he consider your score is not good enough, then come back to step 5.)

7- If the members of the club think your attitude is not compatible with shooting (divergence with democracy, weird religious conviction -> what ever your religion his) or your behaviors with security rules is not compatible with the rules then everything stop here for you definitely. no more chance and you are banned from the range and licence is canceled for ever. You will never be able to start at step one.

8- You must do a test control made of 20 questions regarding security and behavior. If you failed, come back to step 6.

9- You ask for the "Owning FAVORABLE Form" from the club and federation and fill it (we call the GREEN PAPER). You mention the caliber you want to buy for 12 calibers maximum (this can be change later at the gun-shop) and it will be sent to the federation with secret personal notes that your range director wrote about you. MAXIMUM firearm Category B a French citizen can own is 12.

10 - After 2 weeks, you'll get the answer. If ok got to step 11, If you are not approved everything stop here for you definitely. But you can stay at the range renting Pellet Pistol and 22LR from the club. You cannot rent any other firearms.

11- After you form was accepted, you must send the form filled with other documents:

Medical certificate of less than one month attesting that your physical and mental state of health is compatible with the possession of weapons and ammunition,
Birth certificate,
Id papers,
shooting licence and a few other documents.
invoices to p^rove you bought a safe for the guns and a safe for the ammunitions, including triggers guard lock invoices for every firearms

Then the city house firearms department will investigate your files, criminal records, FINIADA files, Police department files, they will also investigate your past, bank details, taxe details, if everything is ok go to step 12, If you dont get the approval everything stop for you definitely. Only one single small doubt from the government guns department and you are out ! no more chance (this takes 2 months) Even they will have JUST a single doubt you are out. YOU WILL NOT GET THE CHANCE to ask government why they declined it. It just can do it. They are considering a single doubt in your application is a no go.

12- Your files has been transferred to police department: At this time things are getting serious. You went through the terrorist database, The police checks AGAIN your criminal record, your acts of violence, made to the public order, in addition a neighborhood survey is made on you, sometimes even your bosses are called to give their impressions on you (the acquisition of weapons is never mentioned), I myself have seen police officers searching my garbage ... A friend of mine has to get an interview with police officers to justify his desire to get a firearms. IF you failed at this step, you are out definitely. This will takes an other 2 months to get the answer.

13- Finally after approximately 13 months of the long period since you went to the range the first time, you have your firearms owning detention form and you run to your local. Believe me or not, if the seller has just a single doubt on you, he keep your licence and you are out definitely . no guns no more chance.

14- finally YOU THINK you own your precious firearms... but you are wrong They still belongs to the Government and you can USE them for 5 years only. Then if you want to keep them, please make sure to renew every year your licence, please do your TEST shooting every 3 months, and please after 4 years and 5 month come back to step 9 to renew you ownership firearms government form.. IF NOT you have 3 months to sell back all of your guns to a gunshop, if you don't do it That's a 5 year sentence and a $100,000 fine.

15- police officers can come and visite your home randomly and check how the firearms at stocked. If they are not in the safe with the guard trigger lock.. guess what? YOU ARE OUT for ever. If the firearms are not at the address your list in the government form, you are out for ever AND JAIL will wait for you..

Also, this official document in no way authorizes you to carry a weapon on yourself. You are only allowed to travel with it between your home and the range, or between your home and your gunsmith. During your travels, your weapons must be secured and cannot be used immediately (raised, bolt removed when possible and of course trigger locks installed and ammunition cannot be transported in the same bag. Any transgression to these rules will void your possession of weapons.

Moreover, during your period of gun possession, a single second category offence while driving a car (alcohol, dangerous driving),evidence of narcotic use or a notification on your record for delinquency, violence, etc... automatically removes your right to possess a weapon. Believe me, the 250 000 sport shooters in France are the best citizens of France. They will never do anything that could put them out of their passion.

finally, there is a QR code on your licence, when traveling, police officers can scan this QR code and check instantly if your Licence is still valide and if your FINIADA profile is GREEN or RED... (RED IS NOT GOOD) same at the gun-shop.

I hope I have been able to put some light on our system.

Denis.

Welcome and yes you got a great deal. Every member here would sprain his elbow reaching too fast for his wallet at that price.

Your list of how to (legally) acquire a semi auto is most egregious. I would assume many people in your country interested in shooting would look at that list and say screw it. I’ll find another hobby. Good on you for sticking it out and brings. Gun owner.

Nice score. Can't beat a P226. Enjoy.

Thanks for taking the time to share about the process for owning firearms in France. That is quite an arduous process...I'm impressed that you have 250 000 who have completed it! Clearly shooting is truly a passion for those of you who have done so, as there is quite a bit of dedication required to complete and maintain compliance with all of those requirements.

You have very good taste in firearms, and a very nice collection. I'm also intrigued that you have several classic S&Ws...are those readily available in France, or did you have to search hard to acquire them?

As a reloader myself, I'm interested in your comments on that as well. It sounds like your components are on par with, if not a little cheaper than what we pay here. Do many French shooters reload, or is it only a small subset who do? Does the government place restrictions on the purchase of ammunition or reloading components?

Again, welcome to the forum and thank you for taking the time to share with us!

My 1st Sig was a West German P226, s/n U45515x.

Circa 1991

Was an outstanding pistol. Wish I still had it.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:

You have very good taste in firearms, and a very nice collection. I'm also intrigued that you have several classic S&Ws...are those readily available in France, or did you have to search hard to acquire them?

As a reloader myself, I'm interested in your comments on that as well. It sounds like your components are on par with, if not a little cheaper than what we pay here. Do many French shooters reload, or is it only a small subset who do? Does the government place restrictions on the purchase of ammunition or reloading components?

It is not that hard to find an old S&W or other american manufacturer. Back early 30's France as imported a lot of firearms to set french army, police department, even we got very good french manufactures. Every french gun-shop got a few hundreds of S&W vintage from early 30's until now. It is just a question of timing to find the perfect revolver, with the perfect condition at right price. I got my 27-2 5“ (scarce) with original wood case presentation box, instruction manual, certificate etc in addition of the original cleaning tools for 850€. Barrel is like a mirror, frame is absolutely perfect, the dark blue finish is gorgeous. I found it 1 month after i got my owning authorization..
Also, because shooting is more considered to be a gentleman sport (like golfing), most of the shooters are taking care of them equipments and firearms with excellent handling. Definitely we dont shoot more than 200 rounds per weekends... Score is most important for us.. score score and score. I am myself into this search of perfect shooting with the best ammunition adapted my guns and barrel length. Ballistic coefficient, physics, aero dynamic, determinate the bullet model, the reference bullet etc.. have no secret for me.

I saw this morning at my gun-shop this beautiful S&W 29-2 6,1/2“ 44 magnum (the dirty harry) for 1550€. It was already reserved but i'm next in the list if the buyer will not come on time. The second hands market is very active in France. France is considered to be the second biggest market in Europe behind finland. There are 8 million firearms in legal traffic every year in France, including hunting rifles. France is made up of 1 millions legal hunters (we are 66 millions citizens)


The S&W M39 I start looking for it last june, i found 2x in august (so i bought mine.. with orignal box), later this month same shop had 3 more to sell. Obviously it is easy to find.
For exemple my gun-shop got a stock of 250 used S&W last month. I WAS SO EXCITED ! Check a sample of the web shop page:



and my bro got an original COLT M16-A1 dated 1966, never used, never ever.. found in an old US-Army stock in Portugal (500x M16A1 were found in the local) and sold to legal traders... After a transformation from Full Auto to semi (well made), he got the right to buy it.

About reloading component, we are lucky to get in Europe amazing components manufactures such Powder manufactures, brass, bullets, ammo, primers etc.. NOBEL-SPORT-Vectan (French), VihtaVuori (Finland), Tikka (finland, Lappua (Finland), Sellier&Bellot (Czech republic), GGG (Lintuani) etc etc... With a local production, a large and wide base of shooters and hunters, price is very low, and since shooting in Europe is mostly considered to be a real sport instead of fun, products are definitely made with high precision to satisfy real competitors, did told you score score and scoring...

Thanks for sharing. I wish I had a local shop with an S&W revolver selection like that, and that model 29 is indeed beautiful! Hopefully for you the person who is on the list ahead of you decides to pass!

For reloading locally we primarily have Hodgdon, Alliant, and Accurate powders, and CCI, Winchester, and Federal Primers. VithaVouri is also available. S&B and Wolff were importing primers over here a couple of years ago, and prices were very reasonable. I bought some of the S&B and they worked very well. Unfortunately, after that brief period, I haven't seen them for sale anywhere in the US since. It would be great if they would start exporting to the US again, as it would help assuage the shortage that we are experiencing right now.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:


For reloading locally we primarily have Hodgdon, Alliant, and Accurate powders, and CCI, Winchester, and Federal Primers. VithaVouri is also available. S&B and Wolff were importing primers over here a couple of years ago, and prices were very reasonable. I bought some of the S&B and they worked very well. Unfortunately, after that brief period, I haven't seen them for sale anywhere in the US since. It would be great if they would start exporting to the US again, as it would help assuage the shortage that we are experiencing right now.

At the moment, the reloading cost for 9mm, as i said previously is 7$ USD (for a box of 50 rounds) in france. This is sorted like this for me:

Powder Vectan (NOBEL) BA9: 0,32 grams (2,07 grains)
Primers MAGTECH
Bullet 124 grs FMj RN Sellier&Bellot
COL: 28,80 mm

This message has been edited. Last edited by: denisFR,

I guess I'll have to pass on moving...

(Even if the women are super sexy.)

Heck, I can't even get a NFA suppressor here in the U.S. ... the F.B.I. denies me because I grew a marijuana plant back in 1978 while in college.
On top of that the BATFE kept my $200.

After reading what you go through to own a gun in France, even our most restricted states should feel thankful!! However, our great nation is under attack, and hopefully does not turn in to France or worse! Ever since 1923, our gun rights have been going backwards!

Merci de nous raconter comment on achète une arme à feu en France. Cela semble difficile, mais pas impossible.

Thanks for telling us about the process you have to go through to buy a gun in France. It sounds difficult, but not impossible.

I really like any SIG without a rail. What a nice gun!

I am so happy of it. So far I will start looking for an other one.

Wow, that is one cumbersome process!

Merci beaucoup for the in depth information about the process in France.

What kind of shooting club do you belong to and what type of shooting do your fellow shooters do most often?

quote:

Originally posted by Oat_Action_Man:
Merci beaucoup for the in depth information about the process in France.

What kind of shooting club do you belong to and what type of shooting do your fellow shooters do most often?

My local club does a few different ranges.

For pistols and revolver, the official range in France in 25m (27yards). 27yards is the minimum distance, shorter distance are banned, since there are no difficulties to make a nice grouping at 15yards...
Then you can train for academic shooting, one extended arm. it is the only official position for competition, what ever the caliber is.






this is what I usually do with one hand:


Or you can train with police positions (2 hands) but there are not so much competition with it, too easy I guess.

My local club includes also gongs and speed target shooting at the 27yards range. Speed shooting is done with those moving targets that open /close randomly depending the programmation done by the shooters. very funny to do.

Then we have the 50m (55yards), only for rifles, no handguns are allowed there. Usually with open sights and no red dot and other equipments. There are 3 positions: standing, kneeling and lying down.

We use the same target as per handguns (even the distance is doubled). Target is C50, means the target is a 50cm circle (20 inches w&h) and the black visual is a 7,80inches circle.

Then we do also long distance shooting: 100m (110yds), 200m (218yds), 300m (328yds). Some other clubs got also very long distance 600m (657yds) and 1000m (1100yds). At the moment I stopped at 200m with my AR15. But I will buy Rugger RPR 308win. 6,5 creed more is not very popular over here.

Of course most of the city ranges clubs are only 25m and 50m. long distance is outside cities.

Great find! For $400 I too would have jumped.

A very similar P226 was my first pistol, given as a gift by my father on my 16th birthday. Little did he know he was introducing me to a lifelong addiction to the SIGness.

Interesting info, thank you for sharing it with us.
In English we have a saying: "You don't know how lucky you are until it is taken away from you." This is why we need to stop gun control measures at every level. We are really fortunate in most states in the USA to be able to exercise the right to own and use firearms.

Some questions about Categories B and D for you:

1). In Category B, when you buy a Winchester lever action rifle or a Mauser 98 bolt action rifle, does the magazine have to be blocked so that it can only be fired and function as a single shot firearm?

2). Do Category D firearms mean that that cannot function? In other words, do the barrels have to be plugged or welded shut?

3). Is it possible to collect, for example, Cold War Era military/police pistols from the East Bloc countries, and which Category do they fall in?

Merci beaucoup, bon ami et joyeux Noël!!

quote:

Originally posted by kaschi:
Interesting info, thank you for sharing it with us.
In English we have a saying: "You don't know how lucky you are until it is taken away from you." This is why we need to stop gun control measures at every level. We are really fortunate in most states in the USA to be able to exercise the right to own and use firearms.

Some questions about Categories B and D for you:

1). In Category B, when you buy a Winchester lever action rifle or a Mauser 98 bolt action rifle, does the magazine have to be blocked so that it can only be fired and function as a single shot firearm?

2). Do Category D firearms mean that that cannot function? In other words, do the barrels have to be plugged or welded shut?

3). Is it possible to collect, for example, Cold War Era military/police pistols from the East Bloc countries, and which Category do they fall in?

Merci beaucoup, bon ami et joyeux Noël!!

Hi sorry if my explanation was not clear enough.

B Category is for every semi automatic firearms, what ever is the magazine capacity.

C Category is for manual loading like lever action rifle what ever is the capacity. The Rugger Precision Rifle (RPR) 6,5 Creedmore or 308win is part of this category. no limitation, and no process to do. just bring your licence and id with you at the gun shop and buy it. Just don't forget the step that your doctor has to certify by honor and sign your licence that your personality is fine for owning firearms. In a word, he takes full responsibility if you will go wrong... so most of the time they will not sign it..

D category is for firearm modify for collection only (no function), or functional with only ONE shot at the time.

Second World War era full auto has to be modify to semi auto to get B certificate. Otherwhise rifles like Mauser & moisin nagan sniper rifle are C category.

denis.

somewhere I have read that to be conform with Californian law, magazine can only feed 10 rounds? So if you buy a handgun originally made for 14, 15 or 16 rounds, in California it must be adapted for 10 rounds?