Does anyone know in which countries you can legally purchase and own automatic weapons and suppressors without enduring the same processes we do here?I am curious and thought it might be interesting to discuss the laws regarding class 3 weapons in different countries.My wife and I are also considering relocating.
There are actually very few places that allow weapons like this. Though people love to cite Switzerland as an example, even they have passed laws over the last few years restricting ownership, etc… Another thing to consider is unless you are a citizen of that country, not just a resident then you may have no right to own a firearm at all.
Finland. I don’t know the restrictions of actual firearm ownership, but I do know that if you can own the gun you can own the suppressor without any extra paperwork or licensing. They consider it a safety and courtesy device, like a muffler on a car.
In fact I think while ownership of the gun itself is more difficult in other countries, quite a few don’t have barrel length restrictions and other things like that.
Where is the guy from the Philippines when you need him?
another thing to consider is while the law in a particular country might make it less restrictive to own an automatic weapon or supressor, availability and cost of those items might be a different matter. you might not be able to get what you want in that country and it might cost more (or less), or you might be restricted to certain calibers.
Iraq; There isn’t a semi-auto AK around here for thousands of miles. Every household can own one.
Most of these savages don’t realize their guns are select fire…
Dave,
Good point! Forgot all about my own backyard. But, who the fuck wants to move here??? On second thought it may not be such a bad idea.
Aren’t they only allowed one weapon per household and foreign troops can search their home at any time?
Yup, that’s the info I got.
I’m not a “troop” anymore, so when I need AK’s we have a guy that calls a guy who drives a taxi with a trunk full of guns and ammo. Asshole charges American prices too ($550 for Mint weapon).
Iraq is great like that. The ideas are in place, it just happens to be a corrupt God-forsaken Shithole.
I think Finland is pretty liberal with NFA weapons, but I don’t know for sure.
Somalia.
You have to watch out with some of those countries that supposedly have permisable gun laws because those laws often don’t extend to carry or defensive use of firearms. I don’t know how Finland is in those regards.
Damn them pesky vermin for trying to get a piece of the pie!
If we were no longer a superpower and the UN sent foreign soldiers into the US and these soldiers went house to house kicking down doors and making sure that we only had one gun per household, I guess I would be kinda pissed too. Probably be an insurgent and labeled as a terrorist. What do ya think?
Ed L., very good point. Finland itself is that way, along with most of Europe.
Keep in mind as well that gun ownership is very vulnerable in most countries outside the US. People who own guns for self defense are very rare, “conservative” parties are not interested in guns, gun lobbies are weak and interested only in sporting aspects of gun ownership. A massacre or two can destroy gun ownership. Two massacres destroyed the handgun and semiauto long gun communities in the UK, for example. Finland itself may have major restrictions imposed after the latest school shooting.
And Somallia may have strict gun laws, as Iraq in fact does these days, its just those places are hellholes where nobody cares about the law 
Actually, I understand that is the way it is in the Phillipines, from a poster on this board, except the government there amnesties otherwise illegal machine guns at times.
NFA, The most unconstitutional act in the history of our great nation.
So maybe we just go ahead and finish taking it over and make it into the New Frontier.
Which means absolutely squat! It’s the law and it’s enforced.
There are friendly folks south of the border (North Mexico) who can get just about anything you’re looking for at a price. I’d recommend making friends with someone in law enforcement as opposed to someone off the street/in a bar.
Couple this with the ability to donate to certain LE personalities in the area of your ‘vacation home’ (choose a pro-gringo subdivision near the beach if possible), and you’ll never be bothered about your cut-rate home defense arsenal.
With the recent uptick in criminal activity, prices are bound to be lower than when i was there. Sad part is that Mexican M203’s aren’t hard to find, but M406/433’s aren’t exactly widely available.
And if you’re adventurous or also looking for a new wife, there’s always beautiful Cali Colombia.
This is a pet peeve of mine. I can’t tell you how many gunowners I have heard say something like if things got bad in the US they would move to New Zealand, as though that is some type of gunowners paradise because with the proper licenses you can own at least semiauto military type rifles. New Zealand is also a country where you need a license to buy any firearm and longarms must be kept unloaded and in a locked cabinet with ammo in a separate locked place. Forget about using them for self defense. It is also a country where a gunstore employee was prosecuted for shooting a machette armed robber.
Given the choice I would rather live someplace where I could not own semiauto military type guns but at least keep a firearm loaded for home defense than someplace where I could own selectfire firearms but not use anything for home defense.
99% of the time, our SOF use their M4s in semi-auto mode in combat areas. You’re really not losing much useful capability without select fire.