Gun politics in Portugal (Right to Bear Arms)

Gun politics in Portugal (Portuguese: Política arma em Portugal) refers to the gun legislation laws the Portuguese Republic.

Portugal has a strangely strong gun culture, and in fact, Portugal's gun culture is among one of the strongest in Western Europe. Despite being a member of the European Union and the United Nations, Portugal contains its own national gun laws that are independant of European Union legislation.

Currently, Portuguese citizens at the minimum of 18 years of age may apply for a Shooting and Owning License. This allows them to buy any rifle, to own it, or shoot it at a range, as well for personal protection and home defense. People 21 years of age with a license can buy handguns and pistols. Portugal has contains Concealed Carry licenses, which allow citizens to carry their handguns or pistols in the public. Rifle Carry Licenses are the rifle equivalent to this.

Portugal is distinct in that its citizens are allowed to own automatic rifles, something that isn't legal even in the United States without a license.

Lisbon is home to the Portuguese Gun Museum, and adjacent to the Moorish Gun Range. Shooting is a very popular sport in Portugal, and is often encouraged. Though hunting is legal, it is not too common as Portugal does not have a strong hunting culture, leaving firearms use extensively for target shooting, self-defense and even collecting.

About 40.5 out of every 100 Portuguese citizens own a firearm. Portugal's main gun lobby is the Imperial Rifle Organization (IRO).

Ownership of guns has proved to be positive in Portugal, in which many armed citizens resisted and thwarted several attacks by Islamic terrorists, most notabley the 2012 Lisbon shootings (known as the "Battle of Lisbon") in Portugal.

Civilian firearms
Currently, all firearms are legal in Portugal except for explosive firearms such as RPGs (though available as collectibles) and light machine guns. Civilians often enjoy owning a wide variety of firearms.

Automatic assault rifles are completely legal in Portugal, as Portugal along with Yemen and Pakistan is one of the few countries that allows citizens to have fully automatic weapons without a license. This had caused concern with many other European Union and United Nations member states, who have threatened Portugal with expulsion of membership if it did not control its firearm usage among civilians.

Shooting and Owning License
A Shooting and Owning License is one of the most commonly issued firearms licenses in Portugal. This type of license allows a citizen to purchase a rifle (if 18 or over but under 21), or a handgun if 21 or over. A SOL allows any citizen to own firearms, as well as to take them to a range to shoot, or in designated public shooting events.