Can You Use a Compressed Air Rifle In The Dominican Republic?

You know, I’m something of a hunter myself…

I am a nature and animal lover, but today while writing a topic about squirrels on one of my animal websites, I realized that these little rodents can be quite destructive.

So, after writing the topic, I somehow ended up on Youtube watching a video, a bit cruel let’s say, it was about hunting squirrels with air rifles, and although in the Dominican Republic we don’t have squirrels I was totally surprised and wondered, wow!, can I use one of those air rifles in the Dominican Republic without getting in trouble with the law?

A few years ago I was working in an isolated area and a lot of green land in a city in the country, and I came across a huge amount of wild guinea fowl, I was impressed, I also found out that in that area there is a lot of guinea fowl and even deer, yes, there are deer in the Dominican Republic.

And not that this promotes indiscriminate hunting of animals, but if it’s some pests, it could be fun.

I did a brief research on the subject and to answer the question, yes, you can use an air rifle in the Dominican Republic, but, this type of weapon is regulated by law no.36 about commerce, carrying and possession of weapons in the Dominican Republic and therefore permits and regulations are needed.

Can you bring an air rifle to the Dominican Republic?

In case you want to bring your own hunting air rifle and you have all the permits from your country of residence, the answer is yes, you can bring it, along with the papers proving its legality.

Although this type of item is forbidden to be carried as luggage on an airplane and would have to be brought in hold luggage, this is logical.

On the other hand, the agencies of reception of merchandise and courier companies in the Dominican Republic, do not allow this type of items that require special permits, that is to say, I could not buy an air rifle in Amazon and bring it to the country through any agency.

What does the firearms law say about air rifles?

According to Article 39 of this Arms Law, any person who manufactures receives, purchases, or acquires in any way; has in his possession or under his custody, firearms, or air rifles, their parts or loose parts and ammunition and percussion caps, in contravention of the provisions of this Law, shall be in contravention of the provisions of the firearms law, may be penalized according to the crime committed.

I know that reading laws can be a bit boring, but in a nutshell, what it says is that if you acquire, use or distribute an air rifle without permits in the Dominican Republic, you could be in trouble.

Well, so much for my excitement about acquiring an air rifle, but what else does the law say about it?

The application for a permit to obtain air rifles must be accompanied only by a certificate of non-delinquency issued by a competent authority in the jurisdiction where the issued by the competent authority of the jurisdiction in which the applicant has his habitual residence.

In addition, the application must be accompanied by a medical certificate attesting that he/she has not suffered or is not suffering from mental derangement or epilepsy and that he/she is not a habitual drunkard.

All of this seems fair and logical to me.

Finally, I kept reading about the law, and in order to use an air rifle you need all the permits and regulatory paperwork just as if it were a firearm, it is a bit tedious, as it is a process that must be done annually.

I prefer to keep watching YouTube videos of hunters.