Several countries have banned guns outright for civilians, and a larger group restricts ownership so tightly that the legal right exists only on paper. Cambodia, North Korea, Myanmar, the Maldives, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, and small Pacific states like the Marshall Islands and Palau prohibit civilian firearm possession entirely. Japan, China, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Australia allow narrow, purpose-tied ownership but keep civilian gun rates extremely low through licensing barriers, category bans, and severe penalties. Venezuela halted commercial firearm sales in 2012.
Countries With Outright Bans
Cambodia’s Law on the Management of Weapons, Explosives and Ammunition bans civilian possession flatly. Article 4 prohibits the public from equipping, possessing, carrying, purchasing, selling, producing, repairing, or transporting weapons of any kind.1VERTIC. Law on The Management of Weapons, Explosives and Ammunition There is no application process, no exception for self-defense, and no permit an ordinary citizen can seek. Unauthorized possession is a criminal offense.
North Korea’s 2009 firearms control act prohibits institutions, businesses, and the general public from possessing or transacting in firearms, and also bans lending, smuggling, destroying, and self-producing guns. Firearms are permitted only for “primary purposes” like guard duty and military training.2Peterson Institute for International Economics. Gun Control in North Korea and in the United States Limited hunting reportedly occurs with government permission, but civilian ownership as understood elsewhere does not exist.
A cluster of smaller nations maintains similar prohibitions: Myanmar, the Maldives, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, and Pacific states including the Marshall Islands and Palau. Vatican City, which relies on Italian and Swiss Guard security forces, bans private gun ownership inside its borders. In most of these places, the ban reflects a post-conflict disarmament effort or the practical reality of a small territory.
Countries Where Licensing Makes Ownership Effectively Impossible
Japan
Japan starts from the legal premise that no one may possess a firearm. The Firearms and Swords Control Law, first enacted in 1958, treats possession as prohibited by default and permits it only when an applicant obtains approval from the Prefectural Public Safety Commission.3Cabinet Office, Government of Japan. Firearms and Swords Control Law Licenses cover individual weapons for specific purposes like hunting or pest control. Self-defense is not a recognized reason.
Getting through the process is where most people stop. Applicants sit an all-day beginner’s class, pass a written exam, and complete a shooting-range test. A doctor must certify mental fitness. Police interview family members and neighbors as part of the background investigation. The license lasts three years, then must be renewed with the gun re-inspected.4Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. National Report on the Implementation of Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects
China
China’s Gun Control Law places all firearms under state control and prohibits all units and individuals from possessing, manufacturing, trading, transporting, or loaning guns in violation of its provisions.5China Justice Observer. Gun Control Law of China (2015) Police, military, court security officers, and customs coast guards carry firearms for official duties. Civilian exceptions are institutional rather than personal: licensed sports shooting facilities, designated hunting grounds, and wildlife research organizations. Individual hunters in designated zones and herdsmen in pastoral areas may qualify. An urban resident has no legal path to gun ownership.
Singapore
Singapore licenses any lawful possession under the Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Act 2021 and backs the framework with some of the harshest penalties anywhere. Carrying a gun in unlawful possession with intent to harm someone brings a mandatory minimum of five years in prison plus at least six strokes of the cane. Repeat offenders face up to 20 years. If the unlawfully possessed gun is involved in a more serious scheduled offense, the penalty escalates to life imprisonment plus caning.6Singapore Statutes Online. Arms Offences Act 1973 A legal presumption compounds the risk: if a gun is found on any premises, the occupier is assumed to possess it unless they can prove otherwise.
Countries That Banned Handguns or Semi-Automatic Weapons
The United Kingdom
The UK tightened its gun laws in stages through the Firearms Acts of 1968, 1988, and 1997. The 1997 amendments came directly after the Dunblane school shooting in 1996 and imposed a general ban on the possession of all handguns, large and small caliber.7GOV.UK. MSN 1704 – Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 The narrow exceptions cover muzzle-loading firearms, signaling apparatus, and handguns restricted by certificate condition to the humane killing of animals.
For rifles and shotguns that remain legal, applicants must show a “good reason” under Section 27 of the 1968 Act. The chief officer of police must be satisfied both that the applicant has a genuine purpose and that granting the certificate would not endanger public safety.8College of Policing. Guide on Firearms Licensing Law – Good Reason In practice that means membership in a recognized shooting club or documented land access for pest control. Self-defense does not qualify. Antique firearms manufactured before September 1, 1939, are exempt from licensing if held as a curiosity or ornament and meet the technical criteria under the Antique Firearms Regulations 2021.9GOV.UK. Deadline Approaches for Antique Firearms Law Change
Australia
Australia adopted the National Firearms Agreement in 1996 after a mass shooting in Tasmania, banning the sale, ownership, and possession of semi-automatic and pump-action rifles and shotguns across all jurisdictions. The agreement resolved that personal protection would not count as a genuine reason for owning any firearm.10Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. Australasian Police Ministers Council Special Firearms Meeting Resolutions Acceptable reasons are limited to categories like sport shooting, hunting, farming, and occupational use.
The government ran a compensated buyback from October 1996 through September 1997, with some states extending the amnesty. By August 2001, roughly 660,000 newly prohibited firearms had been surrendered.11RAND Corporation. The Effects of the 1996 National Firearms Agreement in Australia For weapons still legal, applicants face a mandatory 28-day waiting period and background checks. Licensed owners must store firearms in a purpose-built steel safe at least 1.6 millimeters thick, bolted to the structure of the home if the safe weighs less than 150 kilograms empty. Ammunition must be stored separately in its own locked container.12Victoria Police. Firearm Storage
Venezuela
Venezuela banned the commercial sale of firearms and ammunition in 2012. Only the army, police, and authorized security companies can purchase arms from the state-owned weapons manufacturer and importer. The ban aimed to curb one of the highest gun violence rates in the world. Private ownership of firearms acquired before the ban was not automatically criminalized, but no legal avenue exists for a civilian to buy new guns or ammunition through commercial channels.
Penalties for Illegal Possession
The countries with the strictest bans back them with prison sentences steep enough to function as real deterrents. In the UK, possession of prohibited weapons, including the banned handguns, carries a mandatory minimum of five years. Courts can depart from the minimum only on a finding of “exceptional circumstances” relating to the offense or the offender, and most defendants cannot clear that bar.13Crown Prosecution Service. Firearms – Prosecution Guidance
Singapore is harsher still. Unlawful possession of a firearm with intent to injure someone or damage property brings five to ten years in prison plus mandatory caning. A second conviction for a qualifying offense raises the maximum to 20 years, and possession during a serious crime can produce a life sentence.6Singapore Statutes Online. Arms Offences Act 1973
In Japan, organized illegal possession can carry up to 15 years. Firing a gun in public risks life imprisonment. Even helping others possess guns illegally, such as posting instructional content or sharing pricing information, can result in up to a year behind bars. Cambodia treats any civilian possession as a criminal act under its weapons management law, with penalties applied through the broader penal code.1VERTIC. Law on The Management of Weapons, Explosives and Ammunition
Traveling to These Countries With a Firearm
The ban countries do not carve out exceptions for visitors. Cambodia, North Korea, and Singapore offer no visitor firearm permit at all, and bringing a gun in, even by accident, exposes the traveler to the same criminal penalties that apply to residents. The countries that allow narrow ownership sometimes admit sporting or hunting visitors on tight conditions. Australia, for example, requires an international visitor firearm permit obtained in advance with passport details, itinerary, and proof of the specific event the traveler will attend.14Territory Services. Apply for an International Visitor Firearm Permit Visitors planning to shoot under a local license holder’s supervision must file a prohibited persons declaration at least six weeks before travel.
From the U.S. side, taking a firearm out of the country is regulated separately. The International Traffic in Arms Regulations put temporary export under the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, and failing to obtain proper authorization before departure can bring federal charges regardless of what the destination allows.15DDTC Public Portal. The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) For the air-travel piece, TSA requires firearms to be unloaded, locked in a hard-sided container, and transported only as checked baggage, declared at the ticket counter each time.16Transportation Security Administration. Transporting Firearms and Ammunition None of that changes what happens at the destination, where local law controls.