Police

More than 100,000 licensed guns in the Balearics

More than 40,000 households have a gun or rifle of some form. | Julio Bastida

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma20/11/2017 00:00

According to the Guardia Civil, there are 41,754 households in the Balearics with at least one pistol of hunting rifle. In all, there are some 81,000 shotguns, 5,500 pistols or short guns, 14,000 long-barrelled weapons and around 8,000 police pistols.

For licensing purposes, the Balearics are divided into six areas - Campos, Inca, Manacor and Palma in Majorca and Mahon and Ibiza. Most of the licences, 25,351, are in the Palma area. Inca, with 4,690 permits, heads the list of the other areas.

Each licence allows the possession of a maximum of five weapons. The greatest number of licences are 34,516 for Type E, which includes hunting rifles. Among other categories, Type L, for which there are 505 licences, refers to collectors.

Legislation allows minors aged fourteen and under eighteen to have special authorisation for the use of weapons. These are exclusively for hunting or sport. All licence holders are obliged to keep weapons in a safe place and the licences are subject to review.

There is a further obligation to immediately report the loss, theft or destruction of a weapon to the Guardia Civil. In the event of licence documentation being lost, weapons must be handed in to the Guardia until new documents can be issued.