Dominican gun permit

windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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There is NO open carry in the DR

It is not legal to carry a gun openly in the DR. The law for carry permits is concealed only. Do people open carry? Yes, but they could have their guns taken from them at any time.

To become licensed, you go to a gun shop, buy a gun ($$$$), take a drug test, take a psychological test and wait for the gun shop to let you know when and where you can pick up the gun. Normally that location on the outskirts of Santo Domingo.

Then each and every year after you have to pay the license fee for both ownership and carry, pay for and take a drug test and bring the weapon to Santo Domingo for a ballistics check, for which you also pay.

I am not sure if now you also have to show them you know how to use the gun and shoot at least moderately well.

The gun will be very expensive. Ammunition is also very expensive. The annual renewals including the ridiculous requirement for a ballistics check each year are also pricey.
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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1) Go to a gun store and buy a gun.
2) Gun store will arrange for drug test, psych eval, firearm proficiency demonstration and ballistic testing/fingerprinting
3) Fill out paperwork.
4) Get Criminal record check from home country
5) Pay fees/taxes at BanReserva
6) File paperwork and deposit gun at Ministerio
7) Be told license will be issued in 10-15 working days
8) Wait
9) Wait
10) After six months go to Ministerio to find out what other documents are needed for license to be processed
11) Submit new documents or copies of ones already submitted
12) Wait some more, maybe up to a year or longer
13) Figure out a way to know when your license has been issued.
14) Pick up license at Banreserva where you paid the fees.
15) Discover that the issuing date of the license is the same as the date you originally deposited application
16) At BanReserva pay for renewal of license you just picked up
17) Go to Minsterio and pick up firearm
18) Proceed with license renewal process

It's expensive, time consuming, frustrating and the Govt really doesn't want people running around with guns especially foreigners these days. I suspect the Ministerio is waiting for the new law to come into effect so they can deny all of the applications that are pending.

Figure on $5000 - $6000 to buy a pistol and submit the application. Yearly renewals that can only be done in SD. Very few if any legal out of the box new pistols for sale here.

New law is supposedly in the works that will require those who wish to carry to demonstrate a need to do so.

Good luck.
 
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SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
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One more important thing:

You must be a Dominican citizen or legal resident.

Total yearly cost of renewal currently running about $10,000 pesos a year (+/-).
 

windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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Cdn-Gringo. When you say yearly renewals can only be done in Santo Domingo, are you referring to the ridiculous ballistics check that is required to be done only in Santo Domingo each year for renewal?
 

botemon

Active member
Jun 28, 2008
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As with all things Dominican, It helps to know someone on the inside, which I did. Shotgun permit, all the paperwork, the shotgun...everything cost me 1K US. The process took about 90 days. I paid the "consultant" 1K and he took care of everything else. After approval, I had to pick up the license, the paperwork and then head to the military base North of the Capital. Picked up the gun and some ammo and went home. The SG license is good for life. No renewals. This was around four years ago. Afterwards I found out that a CIA background check was performed. I was like...woa.....Not FBI? Nope! CIA! (I know...I hate that). The only thing that I did was to show up at the National Police headquarters in SDQ to take my picture and again to pick up the picture and pickup the SG. (Oh...and wear long pants AND shoes). Flip flops don't work. That's my story however, as cdn_gringo points out in his list.....I am sure it is this way for most folks!!! I got lucky! Pistol permit is way harder even now for Dominicans and you do have to renew the license each year....or lose it! On a side note, a flare gun works well as a shotgun substitute if you are in a hurry to get something now. Respectfully.
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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Cdn-Gringo. When you say yearly renewals can only be done in Santo Domingo, are you referring to the ridiculous ballistics check that is required to be done only in Santo Domingo each year for renewal?

Yes. You can pay your fees at your local BanReserva and get your drug test done at an accredited local lab at least 10 days prior to going to SD for the ballistics check. Most times, you receive your new license on the spot, but sometimes you don't. Having paid the fees at the local bank means your new license will be delivered there rather than to a bank in SD requiring you go go back to pick it up.
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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The process took about 90 days.

May I ask when you did this? I've had a new escopeta in prosesso for 14 months now and I am making no headway. I've just unleashed a new contact on them. Next step will be a lawyer. This is why I think there is a deliberate attempt to slow down applications by foreigners. I already have a license so this should not be a big deal.
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
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No yearly renewals for a shotgun license, but all the other trials and tribulations of acquiring a license still apply.
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
1,133
113
As the the 1 year mark approached, they wanted a copy of my renewed residency. Then I was told everything was fine and they were just waiting for an interpol check to come back. Then I was told that they can't find any of my documents and need new cedula, residency, passport and criminal record check from Canada.

If there was a way to get my money back, I'd walk away at this point. Since that's not possible, I've sicked a well placed friend on them. If this doesn't pan out rather quickly, I'll get a lawyer to demand they issue the license or come up with a reason for denying it and take it from there. I know of another gringo who has been waiting for more than a year as well.

The reasons for the delay are all over the map. Ranging from incompetence, malfeasance, to ministerial decree to delay, to outright theft of the shotgun which was a name brand Remington. Every time I have a question it means a trip to SD and usually a lot of non-answers to show for the effort.

The armeria won't offer any help, the Minsterio obfuscates and makes things up on the fly and I can get nowhere by myself.

This is the single most frustrating procedural experience I have encountered so far.
 

ju10prd

On Vacation!
Nov 19, 2014
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Accountkiller
1) Go to a gun store and buy a gun.
2) Gun store will arrange for drug test, psych eval, firearm proficiency demonstration and ballistic testing/fingerprinting
3) Fill out paperwork.
4) Get Criminal record check from home country
5) Pay fees/taxes at BanReserva
6) File paperwork and deposit gun at Ministerio
7) Be told license will be issued in 10-15 working days
8) Wait
9) Wait
10) After six months go to Ministerio to find out what other documents are needed for license to be processed
11) Submit new documents or copies of ones already submitted
12) Wait some more, maybe up to a year or longer
13) Figure out a way to know when your license has been issued.
14) Pick up license at Banreserva where you paid the fees.
15) Discover that the issuing date of the license is the same as the date you originally deposited application
16) At BanReserva pay for renewal of license you just picked up
17) Go to Minsterio and pick up firearm
18) Proceed with license renewal process

It's expensive, time consuming, frustrating and the Govt really doesn't want people running around with guns especially foreigners these days. I suspect the Ministerio is waiting for the new law to come into effect so they can deny all of the applications that are pending.

Figure on $5000 - $6000 to buy a pistol and submit the application. Yearly renewals that can only be done in SD. Very few if any legal out of the box new pistols for sale here.

New law is supposedly in the works that will require those who wish to carry to demonstrate a need to do so.

Good luck.

The OP should be told that an new law is in it's final stages of legislation. A proposed law has now been approved by the Deputies and is in the Senate for approval before being sent to the President, and that started last Wednesday. As such all the helpful advice given could change shortly.

http://www.elnuevodiario.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=487797

EL NUEVO DIARIO, SANTO DOMINGO.-the Senate on Wednesday began reading with 40 pages of the project for the Control and regulation of fire arms, ammunition, explosives and other related materials, which establishes a penalty of 30 years to the person who uses a gun illegal to kill.

The initiative, already approved by the Chamber of deputies of the authorship of the reformist legislator Victor Bison? (Ito), seeks to prevent and control the use of weapons on the civilian population, the weapons used by the military and police outside regulation, and promote the gradual disarmament of the population through a legal regime.

One of them articles of the project sets the debugging of requests of license of carrying or holding of weapons of fire, and harden of way drastic the use, porte, tenure and marketing of them weapons illegal, and criminalizes the traffic of weapons of fire, as well as the alteration and modification of the weapon of fire.

Part restricts the use of those weapons capable of firing bursts and throwing grenades. It establishes that there should only be a classification of weapons of exclusive use of the national police and the armed forces.

As for the marking of firearms and ammunition, the piece proposes incorporating administrative practices conducted by the Ministry of Interior and police through regulations.

The legislation includes also the regulation of the commercial sector with the strict provision of licenses for trade with firearms and ammunition, and requires the hiring of a policy of insurance of life and damage to third party.

Project prohibits persons who have been convicted of crimes such as drug trafficking and money laundering, to engage in the marketing of firearms, and sets requirements on the licenses for the import of firearms and ammunition.

The project argues that it will help to discourage the use of weapons in acts outside the law, ever increasing levels of violence and perceptions of insecurity.

It available indicates that the Ministry of Interior and police (MIP), except available contrary, will be responsible of debug them requests of licenses for purposes of carrying of weapons of fire, which will determine, in each case, if the applicant brings them conditions required by the present law to is you can issue it license.
 

botemon

Active member
Jun 28, 2008
223
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28
May I ask when you did this? I've had a new escopeta in prosesso for 14 months now and I am making no headway. I've just unleashed a new contact on them. Next step will be a lawyer. This is why I think there is a deliberate attempt to slow down applications by foreigners. I already have a license so this should not be a big deal.

I did this about 4 years ago. You said you have the licence. So you have the card with your picture on it right? As soon as I recieved the picture ID, I just took that and some paperwork to the military base just outside of SDQ. Showed it to them, (it had the serial number of the SG in the paperwork) paid a couple more 1K notes, picked up a couple boxes of ammo and headed to the house.
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,966
113
No yearly renewals for a shotgun license, but all the other trials and tribulations of acquiring a license still apply.

It does beg the question as to what is to become of the perpetual license originally issued for shotguns and how is that treated by the new more restrictive laws that are about to be passed.