What sort of shotguns are permitted? Eg: only double barrels? Or are semi-autos and pump action allowed as well? How about coach guns and the like?
Also, what are the hoops an average Greek has to jump through to get a licence or permit for a shotgun? Eg: mandatory hunting/shooting/collecting club membership, hunting licence etc.
From the blog I referenced:
To be legal, shotguns must have a minimum overall length of one meter (~39.4 inches) and a minimum barrel length of half a meter (~19.7 inches). They must have a capacity of up to 3 rounds and should not be able to accept more than 3 rounds, i.e. 2+1 for magazine-fed guns. In practice, what tends to happen is that semi-autos and pumps are deemed acceptable by police authorities if their magazines are plugged, by means of a rod inserted through the front of the magazine tube, limiting the travel of the follower.
To buy a shotgun, citizens must be at least 18 years old, have a clear criminal record and pass a brief medical test. Once they decide which gun they wish to buy (and which shop to buy it from), they need to apply for a purchase license at their local police station, with the paperwork that confirms the conditions above, plus some recent passport-size photos and proof of paying a minimal gun purchase fee (at this writing, about twenty euros, or twenty six US dollars). The license is processed at the local police station itself (an important detail, see below) and is usually approved in 2-3 working days.
Shotguns have to be re-registered every ten years. Guns whose owners fail to re-register them, become illegal. From time to time, a grace period may be declared, in which owners of such 'lapsed license' guns are allowed to re-register them and thus make them legal again, for a more substantial fee.
While the law repeatedly refers to shotguns as ‘hunting guns’, it permits the use of these guns for competition. The law even goes to such detail as to permit the use of shotguns for scaring birds away from flight paths near airports, but the use of smoothbores for defensive purposes, is prohibited. To use the guns for hunting, a separate, season-specific hunting license is required.
There are no limits to the number of shotguns that a person can buy.
No licensing or limits currently apply to the purchase of ammunition for shotguns. The purchaser can buy all the ammunition he wants at any time, from any retailer that sells it, the only requirement being an ID to verify minimum age (18 years).
I might add that
, in fact, judging from news reports, shotguns
are used for defensive purposes. It's just that this can't be used as justification for the original purchase of the shotgun.