CCW situation in Russia

I was answering questions on Russia by /u/Grande_Latte_Enema elsewhere, and he suggested I should post the CCW part here, so perhaps it will be interesting for someone.You can very easily get a permit for "self-defense" handguns, they shoot rubber bullets or gas (the muzzle energy is up to 91 Joules, they can kill easily if you manage to hit a head, neck, or even just a leg artery at a close range). You need to take a physical, have less than two violent misdemeanors in the last six months (no felonies, naturally), and take a one-day training course. You can have up to two guns of this kind. No restrictions on carrying them in any way or doing whatever with them.Most of these guns are designed to look like usual pistols and revolvers. In fact, there is no way to tell what you see, thus most Russians, when threatened with a handgun, will assume it's not a real one. Once exception is the 18 mm Osa, and this is actually a good choice because a) everybody knows it's rubber, not gas, and you are going down, and b) it does not penetrate much due to its caliber, so there is little chance you'll puncture an artery. You'll be knocked down by Osa, have a bruise the size of your chest, and likely broken ribs.But Russian self-defense laws are tough, you cannot inflict more damage than you sustained or could reasonably expect. The general advise is not to carry a rubber-bullet gun, you'll pick up a felony charge sooner or later.See Subway Saints. The backstory of the video is this. We have an issue, especially in Moscow, with minorities from Chechnya and its neighbors. They gang up and harass people (naturally, not all of them, a small minority of a minority, but this small part is very visible). So, this father and son were riding the subway, and there is a group of three Chechens or Dagestanis, you cannot see them in the video, and they began trash talking the dad, "What are you looking at?", then one tried to approach. But the dad was a wanted counterfeiter, so this was swift. The guy who was shot was bleeding afterwards. The couple was quickly arrested, even though the dad was already on the run, since the video got too popular. The dad was prosecuted, I think, and the son was not.The reason for these restrictions is not some kind of sissy ethics, but the fact that vigilantism and disregard of law are common in Russia, so giving the benefit of the doubt to the shooter would result in like a lot of shooting. Even with rubber bullets the common feeling today is it's time to ban them just for the benefit of their owners, too much people do time for accidental deaths.You can rather easily get a smooth bore hunting gun. Restrictions on total length (not shorter than) and round capacity (10), semi-automatic max. You do the same checks as above, plus you need a gun safe box, plus the police will inspect your home, plus they have a right to inspect it at any time. Once you have all this, you can buy up to five guns. You can use them for self-defense, but see above. Discharging within city line is probably an automatic misdemeanor and revocation of the license unless there was a very-very good reason for that. You can carry them in the case, disassembled, not loaded. This practically means no open carry.Once you had this smooth bore license for five years, you can apply for a rifle license, then you can have up to five hunting (restriction on total length) guns of any kind. No automatic rifles, semi-automatic are OK. 10 round magazines.No actual handguns! A serious felony. The only chance for you to have one is to be given one by the state as a commendation. It will be a specific gun, not a license, but you'll be able to carry it. There are about 20,000 in the whole country today. Since they are issued by the Departments of Defense and Interior, it's mostly ex-cops and ex-military.Although there is a class of "service weapons", it's handguns that are very close to combat guns, but a little bit less powerful. If you have a private guard license (take a course and pass an exam), and if you are hired by a private security company, and if you are on duty, you can carry and use one. It's owned by the company. The step down is necessary because most Russian guns are military designed and they'll pierce everything, body armor included. They all start from about .45, calibers smaller than that probably don't exist for military handguns.BB guns and crossbows are not regulated up to a certain power, then it's like for smooth bore guns. Knives are tricky, since there are very complicated regulations describing what is a weapon and what is not, but normally all non-weapon knives have a certificate saying this, and all weapon knives require a smooth bore gun license. But the good thing is, all "cold" weapons, knives or brass knuckles, are unlawful, but not illegal, meaning you cannot have them, but you cannot be prosecuted for having them. At best the police will confiscate it and send to an expert to see if it's a weapon, but nothing can be done to you.Within these limits, hunting and range shooting are very popular.There is also a way to shoot all guns, including combat ones like AK or Glock, at a club where guns are provided for you, but I don't know how it works. A facility clearly can get a license, but it will be just for this shooting range. We don't have them around here, it's probably just a Moscow thing.You can also get a "decommissioned gun", which is something like a real AK with a pin in the bore that does not let you shoot bullets, but you can use blanks. This is not regulated, but they are expensive, like $800 for an AK, and this is just for fun/show. via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/2eGWjfF