• From November 25 to December 4, the Ministry of the Interior is organizing a "simplified arms abandonment operation" with the establishment of 300 armories on the territory.

  • Individuals who hold a gun inherited from an ancestor, never declared, or a weapon found in an attic, will have the possibility of abandoning it or of regularizing the situation without risk of legal proceedings.

  • In France, the ministry estimates that there are 5 to 6 million holders of weapons illegally, against 5 million declared holders.

It is an often cumbersome legacy, which some would do without.

In the middle of the sheets, stashed in a large wardrobe, it is not uncommon to discover Grandpa's old gun or a pistol whose provenance is unknown.

For fear of being prosecuted for illegal possession, most of the time, people have the reflex to hide in the attic or in the basement these weapons which they do not know what to do with.

During a national operation which will take place from November 25 to December 2, the Ministry of the Interior has decided to give them the opportunity to get out of illegality without the risk of ending up behind bars.

“The people concerned will either have the possibility of abandoning their weapon or of keeping it by creating a personal account to regularize the situation”, indicates in the preamble Camille Chaize, the spokesperson for the ministry.

Today, the State services count 5 million individuals, legal holders.

They are mostly hunters, but there are also sports shooters, clay pigeon shooters, biathletes and a few collectors.

There are also what the State services call professional holders, such as municipal police officers, RATP or even SNCF agents, i.e. nearly 40,000 weapons.

Shooting clubs represent nearly 70,000 of them, and there are 2,500 gunsmiths.

300 armodromes set up to collect weapons

All of them have legal documents to have a gun in their home.

“But it is estimated empirically that the number of weapons illegally held by our fellow citizens at around 5 to 6 million.

In particular, there are owners of inherited or found weapons, the second most important public after hunters.

We know that one party did not take the steps to hold these weapons on a regular basis, probably out of ignorance in the face of a somewhat tedious administrative procedure.

In a certain way, we know that we have two million of them on the national territory, since the weapons possessed by the deceased people have not been the subject of a new declaration”, explains Jean-Simon Merandat, head of the service weapons and explosives.

It is to these French people that the appeal of the foot "to give up arms", in a way, is made.

With the ambition of reducing the risk of domestic accidents, thefts during burglaries, estimated at 8,000 each year, or even the fight against domestic violence during which we often find undeclared pistols or rifles.

“These weapons are also used during neighborhood conflicts, as much to abandon them as to be tempted to use them”, pleads Jean-Simon Merandat who records 30,000 spontaneous weapons abandonments every year.



To facilitate the task of these owners, during this week, “armodromes” will be created all over France.

On these 300 collection sites, whether police stations or village halls, individuals will be able to deposit their old rifles, sabers and other handguns for those who want to get rid of them.

And leaving the heart can be lighter.

For those with reduced mobility and unable to travel by private vehicle, the authorities have also provided for the possibility of home collection.

It would not be a question of creating panic situations in public transport at the sight of a sawed off cannon.

Same thing for weapons of war or explosives.

Apart from weapons with heritage value that could end up in a museum display case,

For those who want to keep the old Western Winchester rifles of the great uncle, no need to bring it.

A photo, an identity document and proof of address will suffice to complete the online regularization procedures on the site created for this purpose, easy to access and with minimal formalities.

Once the file has been instructed by the prefecture, for a category C weapon for example, such as a shotgun, it will be possible to keep it at home legally, but the purchase of cartridges will not be authorized.

For handguns, however, you will need to obtain a permit.

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