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Gun ownership in Valduvia is unique among developed countries. Valduvia is among the most heavily armed nations in the world, with 85.3 guns per 100 people as of 2022. 54% of Valduvians report owning at least one gun, and 61% of households consist of at least one gun owner. Valduvia is one of a small number of nations with a constitutionally recognized right to keep and bear arms, and the only nation whose constitution explicitly recognizes armed resistance against the state as a legitimate use of civilian arms. Political scientists have labeled Valduvia's relationship with guns as "a distinctive and unique characteristic of Valduvian socialism".
History
The earliest known mention of civilian gun ownership in Valduvian law dates back to the Treaty of Kusava in 1582. The treaty makes explicit mention to the right of peasants and nobles to "arm themselves in the service of their sovereign", a provision generally interpreted by historians and legal scholars as allowing for the establishment of militias by the member states of the Valduvian Confederation. This right was not recognized by the Confederation's successor state, the Valduvian Empire, although gun ownership remained common among civilians throughout the Empire's existence. After Valduvia's loss in the War of the Triple Alliance, civilian arms were heavily restricted in response to rising separatism. In 1873, Emperor Kārlis II signed a decree prohibiting firearms ownership by individuals of certain ethnicities, including members of the Burish, Martish, and Dellish communities. Outrage over these new restrictions was a major factor behind the formation of the Diehlites, a group of radical Burish farmers who are widely considered to be the ideological progenitors of the modern Valduvian socialist movement. The Diehlite Uprising of 1919, widely considered to mark the start of the Valduvian Revolution, was sparked by a failed attempt by the Imperial Valduvian Army to seize a stockpile of illegal weapons at a Diehlite commune in Eulenstadt.
In the immediate aftermath of the Valduvian Revolution, the councilist government was quite relaxed in its application of gun control legislation. The 1921 constitution enshrined "the right of all workers to acquire, maintain, and bear arms in a manner consistent with the laws of the Saeima, except in times of crisis as directed by the Presidium". This initially liberal attitude towards civilian gun ownership began to change following Valduvia's entry into the Great War in 1931. Burlanders, who had long been the champions of gun rights in Valduvia as a result of their historical persecution, were increasingly marginalized during the war as a consequence of Premier Artūrs Ulmanis's consolidation of power. In early 1935, Ulmanis's government instituted a universal licensing and registration requirement for all civilian-owned firearms in Valduvia, ostensibly to regulate the millions of weapons that had fallen into civilian hands during the war. In practice, this requirement worked disproportionately to disarm Burlanders. Local police officials, an overwhelming majority of whom were ethnically Valduvian as a result of Ulmanis's purges, were given complete discretion over the issuance of licenses, and the applications of an estimated 90% of Burlanders were denied as a result.
Gun rights were further curtailed during the Valduvian-Weranian War, during which Burlanders were accused of harboring reactionary and pro-Weranian sentiments. In 1951, the Saeima restricted the issuance of licenses to members of the Valduvian Section of the Workers' International and suspended the licenses of non-members. As Burlanders were largely excluded from party membership, many Burlanders who had legally acquired firearms licenses under the 1935 law had their privileges suspended and their weapons seized by state police officials. The post-1951 disarmament of Burlanders was a contributing factor to the outbreak of the Burland conflict, and the repeal of both the 1935 and 1951 gun control laws was a centerpiece of the Burish Liberation Front's political objectives. From the 1950s until the mid-1980s, the party membership requirement was increasingly used by the Valduvian government as a pretext to imprison officials who had fallen out of favor with the regime. Political opponents of leaders at all levels of government often had their party membership suspended or revoked, leading to their arrest on federal weapons charges. This tactic was used to great effect by Premier Andrejs Miezis, who famously had dozens of his opponents in the Saeima and Presidium arrested on the night of 23 July 1982, several hours after formally suspending their party membership. After the 1983 Kirchhof attacks, the Presidium declared a state of crisis in the Burland, suspending the constitutional right to keep and bear arms within the republic in advance of the Burish genocide.
After the 1985 Valduvian coup d'état, gun restrictions were rolled back to their pre-1935 status. The 1987 constitution enshrined a right to keep and bear arms that far exceeded the protections of the 1921 constitution, specifically prohibiting registry and licensing restrictions and recognizing gun rights as an integral element of a broader right to resist. Civilian gun ownership has swelled dramatically since the transition to democracy, rising from 7% in 1990 to 54% in 2022. The rate of growth has slowed since the early 2010s, and experts project that gun ownership will plateau at around 60% by 2035.
Constitutional rights
Regulations
| Category | Items | Age to acquire | Age to possess | Background check? | Waiting period |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category A | Black powder firearms, manually operated firearms manufactured before 1900 with a caliber of 12.7mm or less, air guns, flare guns, stun guns, pepper spray, deactivated weapons | None | None | No | None |
| Category B | Manually operated and semi-automatic firearms manufactured in 1900 or later with a caliber of 12.7mm or less | 18 (16 for "close relatives") | 16 | Yes (Exception for "close relatives") | None |
| Category C | Fully automatic firearms, firearms with a caliber greater than 12.7mm, explosive devices | 18 | 18 | Yes | 30 days |
Valduvian federal law classifies firearms and other "projectile weapons" into three categories based on the degree of regulation. While Category A items are not regulated by the federal government, Category B and C items are subject to legal restrictions. The Firearms Act of 1997 prohibits the possession or acquisition of Category B and C items by any individual who:
- Is currently categorized as mentally unfit by a court of law;
- Has been committed to a mental institution within the last 12 months;
- Is a fugitive from justice;
- Is subject to an order of restraint by a court of law, or;
- Has been found guilty of a felony offense, and has not yet completed or been released from their court-mandated sentence.
Category B and C acquisitions require a background check, which reviews an individual's criminal and mental health status to ensure compliance with federal law. Transfers of Category B items between "close relatives", defined as a person's spouse, siblings, aunts, uncles, first cousins, and all direct ancestors and descendants, are exempt from the background check requirement. However, federal law prohibits anyone from knowingly transferring a Category B item to a prohibited person, regardless of whether or not a formal background check is required. Background checks may be conducted in person by a licensed firearms dealer or law enforcement official, or online through the Directorate of Justice's web portal. For Category C firearms, an individual may not take ownership of the item until 30 days after their background check has been approved.
Both Category B and C items are also subject to age restrictions. Individuals must be at least 18 to acquire and 16 to possess a Category B item, and must be 18 to either acquire or possess a Category C item. Federal law grants an exception for individuals to acquire Category B items from close relatives at age 16.
