Effective January 1st, Puerto Rico’s historically restrictive gun laws will change dramatically. The island will soon become a gun-friendly paradise with the signing of Act 168 by Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced.
Perhaps the best part of the new changes is that most of them would horrify Michael Bloomberg and his Moms Demand Action anti-gun puppets.
The Puerto Rico Weapons Act of 2020 is written in Spanish, but you can download it and then use an online translator (like this one) to convert it to English.
As the law’s preamble states, the Puerto Rico Weapons Act of 2020 is intended to . . .
…create a new law that adjusts to the current reality looking for a balance between the [constitutional rights] of a person to own and bear arms and the right of the state to regulate it [and] reduce the costs associated with owning and carrying a weapon….
For residents, the most sweeping change will be the elimination of the expensive, onerous licensing schemes which made lawful gun ownership difficult at best. The new law sets a minimum age of 21 but it enacts a shall-issue licensing system that serves as both a carry license and an ownership license.
The initial license fee is $200 with half-price renewals every five years. That’s down from the current $1500 may-issue system. The government only has 45 days to process the applications, too.
For visitors to the territory (that’s you and me), Puerto Rico will now recognize any state’s carry license. With a valid carry license, you can carry one loaded firearm. Additional firearms must be unloaded.
However, gun possession without a license may result in prison time. In fact, the law mandates prison time for unlicensed carry and possession of firearms.
What’s more, licensed residents may now own modern sporting rifles without restriction. Ditto for Class III items, with all appropriate ATF tax stamps, of course.
Yes, if someone buys over 20,000 rounds of ammo or ten guns in a given year, the police may investigate to ensure the firearms and ammo are not being improperly transferred to criminals, but Puerto Rico will no longer have evil black gun and magazine bans.
What’s more, those without licenses will be able to shoot at ranges. Prior to the new law, without a license, a person faced arrest and prison time for merely touching a gun.
So in a few days, Puerto Rico will recognize the Second Amendment for its residents and visitors. As a result, Puerto Rico just became a whole lot more competitive as a tropical vacation destination. For gun owners seeking a beaches and sun, it will soon stand head and shoulders above Hawaii which is actively hostile to guns and gun owners.
Even better, since the hurricanes in 2017, many areas in Puerto Rico have seen rebuilding and new construction. They look better (and more modern) than ever. And now, with the ability to bring a self-defense tool with you on vacation, the island is quite an appealing vacation destination.
That is WONDERFUL! Great news, and congratulations to Puerto Rico!
well,..it’s better than passing out paper towels….
Mexico vacations way too dangerous.
Puerto Rico here I come.
Why do you say that Mexico [vacations] are far too dangerous? What would make you think that?
I’m starting to see private security guards carrying sub-machineguns standing at the doorways of posh department stores and electrical supply stores.
At first I doubted what I was seeing. I figured it must be semi-auto because (as far as I knew) machine guns were reserved to military. So I asked one guy. He confirmed it was a machine gun. Asked another, he confirmed it was a machine gun.
As long as we are being guarded by well-armed private security we should be safe; right? What could possibly go wrong here?
Mexico, Peru, Columbia and now Venezuela are the most dangerous places for tourist.
Mexico is certainly number one on my list. Jamaica if you leave the resorts you have 100% chance of getting robbed, assaulted or worse.
In Puerto Rico, you have the protection of the US federal govt all the federal agencies are in PR and a large specialized PRPD tourism force located in the main tourist beaches and shopping malls. The day PR even gets close to one of these countries, Iceland, switzerland here I come.
The aforementioned countries are literally lawless.
you got that right
I really like the last graphic.
You like the va-ja-ja from an 90 year old woman?
Yeckkkk!
No… looks like he likes the pa-dunk-a-dunk from that 20-something beach bunny.
Yea I think he means the Food-Transport-Islands-Accommodation promotion.
Or as I like to call it:
Fine-Tanned-Island-Ass
La Isla Encantada or as I used to refer to it during my four years of residency “The Island of the Damned”.
Amazing that they actually modernized their laws in favour of the law abiding citizens. And that’s spot on about the non-permited touching firearms or even trying to buy ammo.
The off shore fishing in that area ain’t bad either.
Just make sure you don’t have any tragic boating accidents…
I had to check the calendar to make sure it was not April 1st and this an April Fool’s joke.
That is EXACTLY the same thought that I had.
I need to know what James Campbell (ie ‘The shit shackled muppet fart’) thinks about this issue!
Somebody has been permanently triggered. James Campbell must be a bad, bad man.
Say hello to the bad man!
You done suckin that bag of dicks DERP?
Go suck another bag.
“‘The shit shackled muppet fart’”
It’s “MR shit shackled Muppet fart” to basement dwellers like you DERP.
So as an American citizen from Wisconsin I have the right to keep and bear arms in Puerto Rico but not California, New York, New Jersey and Hawaii. Time to kick those four states out of the Union and bring in Puerto Rico.
As a resident of The Peoples State of New Jersey, I agree.
As a prisoner here in Ca, second the motion.
Don’t forget Oregon, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maryland, D.C. and outside your car in Illinois.
Nevermind, forget those Constitution hating states.
No one from Wisconsin wants to get out of their car in Illinois anyway – except to pee.
And you will have to per unarmed.
Pee, not per.
that sounds really good and about time too. Puerto Rico is also easier to move to for me from australia than the US would be
How so Toni?
from what i can gather to move to the US i would need a lot more money than i would to move to Puerto Rico or i would need to find someone to sponsor me to move there. Puerto Rico i would need far less
How do you figure, Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. things are very expensive here and they’re only getting higher. if you’re not an American citizen you are not allowed to be here. there’s no advantage to you coming here than going to any other location in the United States. They say Montana is nice this time of year
Yippee Kai Yay!
With all sincerity and good will I hope this will be of success for Puerto Rico: morally, politically, economically, culturally, historically, etc. My best wishes for the people of Puerto Rico.
James A. “Jim” Farmer
Merrill, Oregon (Klamath County)
Long Live The State of Jefferson
Muy bueno…I wouldn’t celebrate quite yet. PR is profoundly corrupt. A very good female friend of ours lost everything after Maria. In no small part to the gubmint. Good luck!
That may have been true in the past but not anymore notice how many political officials have been going to jail? Wanda the new governor is locking them up with the help of the FBI
you know. I can’t see the good in this stuff anymore. The state has no right to make laws about weapons in any matter. It’s still tyranny. It’s just lax tyranny.
The government is stating you can have black rifles but it’s within it’s right to take them away.
It’s disgusting. I’m glad lots of people will get weapons but jeez. Rights vs privileges or negative vs positive rights is going out the window it seems worse and worse.
The state has no rights. A state can not have any rights. Only individuals can have rights.
yes i agree completely however it is a step in the right direction from where it was and still a shit load better than how it is here in australia. some of the police ministers here are even suggesting that shooters have NO rights. They are nothing more than overblown tyrants
Indeed. I am sorry you have to deal with that.
{Australia}
“some of the police ministers here are even suggesting that shooters have NO rights.”
If they could get away with that, you bet your ass they would do that here., Toni…
yeah i have seen a few from over there that have that sort of attitude in what i read. it is not good at all. problem is most aussies rolled over when they brought in our NFA (i call it No F#%$&@g Agreement) and not only surrendered their guns but willingly registered the rest. Personally i always said we should have stood our ground, let them fire the first shots if there were shots to be fired and said Not On Our Watch.
I was thinking the same thing.
Today Act 168 was signed by the Governor.
Tomorrow Act 169 rescinds Act 168 by the new Governor.
I understand what Puerto Rico is attempting to do, and it’s a smart move. Also smart people looking to set-up shop and bring their investment dollars with, might likely need something more ‘carved in stone’.
Yep.
Puerto Rico is not a state.
Yet. There are those that want very badly to make it a state, to pack the senate with democrats…
Imagine how quickly that would change if Puerto Rico were to become re-populated with Conservatives. Most of P.R.’s trash is in Orlando now.
Actually, that’s Republicans. Democrats want to keep Puerto Rico as a Territory.
I mean state like government or country. We may call it a territory but I would consider it’s government is still a state. Just not part of the united states.
President Roosevelt and the rough riders would disagree with that statement
Puerto Rico’s status is peculiar. It is established by conventions adopted by their, and our, respective governments. It can’t be readily compared to anything else; just as Hong Kong’s status or Taiwan’s status can’t be compared to anything else.
Clearly, PR is not a state of the union, USA. If it were then it would have voting members in Congress and electoral votes.
Clearly, PR is not a sovereign nation. We can use one of its islands for naval target practice without suffering criticism from other nationstates for violating the sovereignty of a sister state.
Nevertheless, PR can govern its affairs to certain extents and purposes, without interference – not even benign interest – by Congress. There exists some notion of “dual sovereignty” as is well established in Constitutional law whereby activities within the several states of the union are subject to both Federal and state law. It’s just that the dual sovereignty of PR is different from that applicable to that of the several states of the union. And, it is also different from that of any of the other territories not incorporated into the union.
Wow!
Puerto Rico just became my vacation destination! Seriously. I have been looking for somewhere that I can go where the ocean will be warm enough to swim in January or February. Puerto Rico is it now that I can have an effective means of self-defense!
The Ruger LCR in .357 is in stainless… 🙂
Any idea what prompted such a radical change in Puerto Rico’s firearm laws?
Money, they desperately need it, and they ran out of O.P.M..
They restructured their tax codes as well. The circle between free markets and socialism finds P.R. headed toward the former, hopefully leaving the later.
Sandra Barreras with Ladies of the Second Amendment sued over the old law and it was struck down leaving no firearms law. That decision was stayed at some point to allow a new law to be approved, I don’t have the info on that part.
They get paid $1,500 a month. You going to work hard for that kind of money. I’m not
While I agree that the state has no rights, PR is a possession of the US, not having full rights for it’s citizens. These island possessions have different laws than we do in the 50 states. Some of these areas do not even recognize the people born there as US citizens. I applaud freedom anywhere, and am happy that these people get some freedoms.
“Some of these areas do not even recognize the people born there as US citizens.”
The PR does recognize being born there as being a US citizen…
Actually it’s the federal government that decided Puerto Ricans born in Puerto Rico would be US citizens in 1917:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones%E2%80%93Shafroth_Act
Among other things, it made Puerto Ricans draft eligible for the World War I.
I’m perplexed that I never heard anything about this until now. It’s a dramatic shift in policy. How did this happen?
What was the biggest driver to PR changing its laws?
The US Supreme Court.
Heading off a future case involving not having rights despite having citizenship?
Cash is King, Boch, and they need it.
But if you’re right, CA, NY, NJ, CT, MA, HI, IL, DC, MD, OR will be following PR’s lead. Right?
Can you clarify, John?
Some enterprising person needs to start a gun rental business for tourists that have carry permits to rent a handgun while on vacation.
My Mom was from Mayaguez, south western side of the island. My grandparents house had a breadfruit tree. The neighboring yard had mangoes. You could pick fresh fruit most of the year. Driving down the coastal road, you could stop at any number of farmer stands to purchase fresh produce at insanely low prices. Stop at the pier and buy fish that was swimming around an hour ago. Fresh crabs, too. Breathtaking views. Almost every afternoon at around 4 PM, very localized rainshowers. Sometime it would rain on one side of the street, but not the other. Beautiful beaches, but watch out for the jelly fish!
There was always some at the beach punching holes in coconuts; buy a punched coconut, drink the coconut water. If you were old enough, he would add a shot of rum.
We thought it was close to paradise. Now, it has just gotten a little closer.
My friend Rick was a Bronx Puerto Rican. I think he moved there when he was 15 or 16 and then moved here to Tampa after he graduated NYU. He’s retired now and goes 5-6 times a year and tortures me with me pics of the beach, fishing, and food. Smart bastard did it all right and retired when he was 57.
Now, next winter for sure.
Klaus,
Tu amigo es un chico inteligente.
Estoy celosa de el. (I am jealous of him).
“celosa” is a feminine term,like “she is jealous” , the term for men is “celoso”,
LOL!!! Correcto! Gracias! Mi español es pobre. Necesito mucha más práctica.
I am in Puerto Rico often for business, and had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Governor Vázquez Garced. She is an impressive person, and this particular move does not surprise me.
Puerto Rico is making the right steps to get rid of their corruption, and now they need to address the “mañana” culture.
Manana (later) is a cultural issue, good luck with that.
The PR doing this will spark a flood of retirees, I bet. And they will bring their money…
I hope she is successful. As it is, Puerto Rico doesn’t have a good reputation as a desirable place to live. Otherwise, why would many Puerto Ricans immigrate to the US in search of a better life?
They come for jobs a chance their children will make something of themselves. Medicare is honored there and it would be a great place to retire(Mexico, Costa Rica, etc, do not honor medicare).
What I said. I just hope the place is merely TARFU instead of FUBAR.
Proof that onerous gun laws can be repealed. Let this be a beacon of hope for those living behind enemy lines in the slave states.
Half of New York City would have a coronary at the very thought of armed Puerto Ricans.
I celebrated my first honeymoon at the El San Juan Hotel in PR. I like the people, and I’d definitely go back — for $700 a night? WTF?
What’s particularly funny is that there are about as many Puerto Ricans in NY as there are in PR. When I’m there, most of the TVs are showing the weather and news in NYC.
Well President Trump call/tweet to congratulate Puerto Rico for passing a Pro 2nd Amendment Law like he did when he called/tweeted Florida for passing an Anti 2nd Amendment law?
PR has a higher murder rate per capita than any state in the Union, that also includes Washington DC. My guess is after someone said “We need more tourists” and we have no law for firearms, what shall we do?
It wasn’t Einstein but some caveman said “Hey, we keep doing the same thing and keep getting the same result!”. Politicians in PR must have heard the same thing, somewhere……….
“PR has a higher murder rate per capita . . . ” So we will have a wonderful experiment.
Because the law is Shall-Issue there IS a permit system. This has an advantage in that we will now know how many legal CWPs are issued. Hopefully, they will compile and publish their data. (NY, for example, neither compiles nor publishes their CWP data.)
Then, we will be able to look for a correlation between the rate of homicides (or other crimes) and the rate of permits outstanding. Will these be positively correlated or negatively correlated?
“More [legal] guns; Less crime”?
Has a vaguely familiar ring to it.
Puerto Rico is about the population of a large American city. It has a violent crime rate below that of many American cities, including Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta, Oakland, Memphis, Detroit, and others.
I may just be old and jaded, but this looks like a sugar coated gun registry scheme…
The PR government just seems to change it’s mind overnight. Reduces the “licensing fees” so everyone will be able to afford it… but not too low, so no one suspects a trap. That’s the carrot, then the stick: draconian jail time for not complying to scare the rest into following… Viola! Giant list of gun owners!!
My question is, What happened to the requirement to register guns with the Police?
I am going to book a trip next year. I go to fla a few time a year. Time to substitute a PR trip!
Been to PR once. Beautiful place, but my iPod got stolen out of my rental car on the first day there (in San Juan) and then a few hours before returning the rental car, someone hit-and-ran while it was parked. Also in San Juan.
Moral of the story? Don’t go to San Juan. Everywhere else is nice.
If anyone wants a laugh, read about how Governor Vázquez Garced became governor.
She didn’t want the job. Then she had no choice but to take the job.
We would all like to hear form someone with first hand experience with the new law. From what I’ve been able to find out, the new law is in effect, but the administration of it is in flux. Not at all surprising.
There are supposed to be signs in the airport, are they there yet?
Bureaucracies move slowly, it’s not like flicking a light switch. Plus, the police need to be re-educated on the new law.
I would advise everyone to wait for more information before slipping a handgun into a PR bound suitcase!
Mexico, Peru, Columbia and now Venezuela are the most dangerous places for tourist.
Mexico is certainly number one on my list. Jamaica if you leave the resorts you have 100% chance of getting robbed, assaulted or worse.
In Puerto Rico, you have the protection of the US federal govt all the federal agencies are in PR and a large specialized PRPD tourism force located in the main tourist beaches and shopping malls. The day PR even gets close to one of these countries, Iceland, switzerland here I come.
The aforementioned countries are literally lawless.
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