Question for Stirlitz

[funkola]

Do you know if foreigners are allowed to own firearms in Ukraine. For instance, I heard an American in the Philippines cannot own weapons, but his wife can own all she wants to. 

[ScottinCrimea]

I had this discussion yesterday with a man here in Ukraine.  It is difficult for even a Ukrainian to possess a firearm here.  to get licensed it costs a lot of money, you have to have a thorough background check, and most importantly, you have to know someone high up in the police or court system.

[Stirlitz]

I apologize for not addressing this question earlier. I must admit I seldom read all the forums, only some of them and mainly when I am given a link by somebody in a private or instant message. Usually I follow up responses to my posts.

Anyway, I have been asked this question before. Well, firearms are basically illegal in Ukraine. Having said that, theoretically you might get a license. But it will cost a lot of money and paperwork, and you will have to report to the police monthly like a criminal on probation — at least that is what I heard about it, not that I did it myself. You need to provide a safe at home to store the gun.

At that, you can see some guns on sale in special stores. I assume that for the wealthy it is not a problem.

However, I am talking about combat guns. As for hunting guns, they are easier to get. You need to be a registered hunter.

But when it comes to foreigners, I think that chances of being allowed to possess a fire-arm are close to zero.

The pistol that you can see in my avatar is an air-gun of the BB caliber. It is not illegal. But it is of little use as a weapon except for its weight (you can hit someone on the head).

[wiz]

Igor

"I have lived in Odessa, Ukraine since I was born there and learned the language on my own."

I was told that Iryna, who married Carl was your English school teacher.... is that true?

[funkola]

Thanks for the info Stirlitz/guys. That puts a huge dent in my consideration of ever moving to Ukraine. Anything is possible though.

[Kuna]

Just out of interest Funkola...  Why is owning a gun so important to you?

[AkMike]

This thread is interesting for me also. We have a friend over there that is also a hunter and if we move there I want to be able to target shoot as well as hunt. I did go rabbit hunting during a prior trip and had a good time.