Gun Purchase

I don't know, but to who ever does know. I will add to the question. Do you need a cedula or need to be a resident to get one legal ?

First of all, you must have Provisional/Full Residency and Cedula if you are a foreigner. Anyone selling you a "legal" firearm must have a VALID Dominican Firearms Permit which shows the make, model and serial number of the firearm you wish to purchase; the annual tax for the permit must also be up-to-date. Make sure the individuals license isn't expired, because he would have had to turn in the firearm if it was, and definitely check if the tax was paid. BEFORE you pay anything, copy down the serial number and run it through the Ministerio de Interior y Policia website! If all looks good, take it to a place and shoot a few rounds to see if it works to your satisfaction and doesn't jam up on you! Then if you think you have a good deal, go to a well known lawyer's office and get a notarized "Bill of Sale" with seller and buyer info, make-model-serial number etc. then head over to a local gun store with the seller and tell them you want to do a "Traspaso de Arma" and they will do the rest of the paperwork for your license for about RD$20,000. At some point both you and the seller MUST go the Ministerio de Interior y Policia in Santo Domingo. Here the owner of the firearm you are buying from surrenders both firearm and his Permit to an official and it remains there until you pick up your Permit. You will be required to get a good conduct certificate from the Police, photos, urine test for drugs, psych exam and shoot a round or two. It usually takes 20 business days to get your Permit. Hope this helps and good luck!

It is complicated...but possibly it keeps firearms away from those who shouldn't have them.

Damn, avi8or57. Thanks for all the great info!

SO easy to get a gun here without the permits. Illegal yes but VERY easy! Every year to go through the paperwork hassle and cost no thanks!

Especially when you get in a control with it and ballistics finds out somebody was killed with it. Guess who goes in jail for it?

Harleysrock said:

SO easy to get a gun here without the permits. Illegal yes but VERY easy! Every year to go through the paperwork hassle and cost no thanks!

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Castellamonte said:

It is complicated...but possibly it keeps firearms away from those who shouldn't have them.

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Was that sarcastic?

avi8or57 said:

First of all, you must have Provisional/Full Residency and Cedula if you are a foreigner. Anyone selling you a "legal" firearm must have a VALID Dominican Firearms Permit which shows the make, model and serial number of the firearm you wish to purchase; the annual tax for the permit must also be up-to-date. Make sure the individuals license isn't expired, because he would have had to turn in the firearm if it was, and definitely check if the tax was paid. BEFORE you pay anything, copy down the serial number and run it through the Ministerio de Interior y Policia website! If all looks good, take it to a place and shoot a few rounds to see if it works to your satisfaction and doesn't jam up on you! Then if you think you have a good deal, go to a well known lawyer's office and get a notarized "Bill of Sale" with seller and buyer info, make-model-serial number etc. then head over to a local gun store with the seller and tell them you want to do a "Traspaso de Arma" and they will do the rest of the paperwork for your license for about RD$20,000. At some point both you and the seller MUST go the Ministerio de Interior y Policia in Santo Domingo. Here the owner of the firearm you are buying from surrenders both firearm and his Permit to an official and it remains there until you pick up your Permit. You will be required to get a good conduct certificate from the Police, photos, urine test for drugs, psych exam and shoot a round or two. It usually takes 20 business days to get your Permit. Hope this helps and good luck!

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My interest in this post is not b/c I'm a cowboy or a Black OPS wannabe; rather, this is what I call Copy&Paste material. I have a folder with DR info. Whenever a post surfaces that totally answers a relevant question I copy and paste it to the folder. Thanks for the detail.

The long process and paperwork does not deter people from getting guns.
Actually the high costs of legally buying a gun makes more people look at illegal guns - they are available if you look - but as others said, if you ever use that unregistered, illegal gun, then you will in for a lot of problems, even if it was in self-defense.
If you do get a gun, go through the full process and get all the proper paperwork done.

If criminals can get guns without going through this long permit process and high expense of buying one. This only puts the honest law abiding citizen at a major disadvantage.

In the US we still do not have this problem "YET" and we should resist and defend are constitutional rights to bear arms at all cost.

We should learn by looking at other countries like the DR and similar that gun control does not work. Here is a fine example.

Hmmm...our "constitutional right to bear arms" does not apply in a completely different country with a completely different constitution. As much as I adore our constitutional rights in the US, I also agree that the DR can enact any rights they deem necessary for their country. In this case, it's a laborious process to enable someone to obtain a legally registered firearm.

I have firearms...legally registered here and also with concealed carry permits (after all, I am an American) but if even one idiot who should not be allowed to obtain a firearm is deterred from it due to this laborious process, I'm fine with it. Frankly, I know it doesn't help all that much but I can dream...right...I mean, come on...let me dream a little...

I was not referring that US constitution rights for an American apply in the DR, that would be absurd. I was referring that for the average poor law abiding Dominican or Resident that lives here and that can not afford a legal gun due to monetary reasons. Will not be able to defend his family nor himself due to the cost, now that is a shame. As the criminals would not abide by these rules, as criminal do not follow the laws and they would buy one in the black market or steal one to commit crimes and this leaves the average citizen at a tactical self defense disadvantage.

In plain English: The criminals are armed to the teeth, while the law abiding citizen is not armed due to cost or time restraints. I am 100% percent against gun control anywhere for obvious reasons.

oh please i know so many people who have illegal guns here it is not funny and any day of the week i will use one to protect my family. What happens after that I don't give a rats ass ass long as my wife is protected. I will not live her for a second without a gun not waiting for my legal papers!!! I value my wife way more than that!!!

and i am a hardcore non gun user till i moved here! LIKE HARDCORE! THINK THE STATES ARE CRAZY FOR THEIR GUN LAWS!! (Canadian)

CG said:

Hi, looked all over the legal and living sections, tried search but found no answers.

So here's a question, Does the gun (used) need a permit or need to be legally licensed to purchase ?.
What's the procedure to buy a second hand gun from a private person?.

Perhaps there are posts on this but I struck out looking, never have had much luck with the SEARCH OPTION on this site.

Thank you,

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Those who want to own guns while living in the DR should consider just staying home in the USA. It is possible to get a legal gun here but you have to jump through way more loopholes than the USA plus you will always be an "outsider gringo" even if you get your residency and Cedula. If you manage to get a gun here legally, and end up using it against a local in self defense, expect to be targeted by that person's family. Self Defense law is a tricky subject even in the USA and people have gone to prison there for using their guns in situations which they "thought" were legit but which the courts ruled were not.

Now, if that happens in the USA, imagine what can happen in a third world country like the DR where the legal system is totally different and where as a foreigner you may not be a native Spanish speaker? Dominicans are also loyal to their family members and if you shoot one even in self defense expect to have to fight their entire family. It is for all these reasons that I sold my gun in the USA prior to moving here and have no plans to own a weapon while living here. I'm not a resident anyway and I don't want go through the process to become one. Your brain is the ultimate weapon while living in the DR, people have lived here safely for years without needing to own a gun.

DOC1727 said:

In plain English: The criminals are armed to the teeth, while the law abiding citizen is not armed due to cost or time restraints. I am 100% percent against gun control anywhere for obvious reasons.

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I agree, but what you or I think doesn't matter. What is more important is reality. The Dominican Republic is a totally different animal from the USA when it comes to guns. Dominican law may say one thing, but the police here may decide something different. Legally owning a gun here isn't a guarantee you won't get into trouble, especially if you have to use it. As a foreigner you will be held suspect regardless of the legality of your gun. If your gun is illegal you're probably screwed. If you kill a Dominican his/her family will want you dead, and will actively pursue you. If any of you think you will use a legal gun here to kill a Dominican, and continue living here with no issue, you're sadly mistaken.

Self Defense law is EXTREMELY TRICKY even in the USA. Laws for different states vary. You can end up in prison for using a gun in the USA if you don't know the law. Most Americans don't, and the USA is their country. Now you're talking about owning/using guns in the DR, a third world corrupt nation with a vague legal system, where the interpretations may vary depending on the judge. The wisest course of action is to not own guns here, and if you're determined to carry a weapon, catch a flight back to the USA, because you'll have a better time defending yourself in court in the USA than you will here. We all see what happened with the Trayvon Martin incident. If George Zimmerman were a foreigner living here in the DR, and Trayvon were Dominican and he killed him, the Dominicans would have wacked him by now. The Trayvon Martin case shows how sensitive self defense is even in the USA.

"I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6"

If someone is going to kill you, you should use deadly force. You might go to jail but with money you can get out eventually and leave the country or would you rather leave in a box. The choice is yours. If the dead could talk they would say "being alive is better than dead."

DOC1727 said:

"I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6"

If someone is going to kill you, you should use deadly force. You might go to jail but with money you can get out eventually and leave the country or would you rather leave in a box.

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I'd rather be judged by 12 in the USA, not the DR. At least in the USA you will likely get a fair trial. The laws don't work the same here, you may never get to jail, you could be killed by the family of the Dominican you shot or they may pay off the cops to get to you. You underestimate the complexities of using a firearm in the DR. The legal system here is not as good as the USA and you're a foreigner to. If you want to risk that, go ahead. There are many threads here on DR1 that provide safety tips for living here. If you follow them you don't need to carry a gun. Using a gun in the DR is likely to cause more problems than it will solve, and if the gun is not legal then you're finished, at best you will have to pay a HUGE fee to get out of jail, and I'm talking about a $10,000+ bribe if you kill a local with an illegal gun.

I wouldn't want to pay a huge bribe for using a gun in the DR, and I would not want to continue living in the country either due to the likely retribution from the victim's family. So in other words if I wanted to own a gun and be willing to use it I would simply return back to the states and buy a gun since I have a permit for it right now. But I chose to give up my gun when moving here because of the reasons I state above plus I'm not a Cedula carrying resident anyway. Just remember that owning a gun in the DR and using a gun in the DR are two different things completely.