Tim Elliot: Welcome! This is Lawgical, the U.A.E.’s first legal podcast. Now, Lawgical comes to you from the Dubai-based law firm, HPL Yamalova & Plewka. My name’s Tim Elliot, and as ever, I’m with the Managing Partner, Ludmila Yamalova. It’s always good to catch up with you, Ludmila.
Ludmila Yamalova: Great to hear your voice, Tim, and see you again. It has been a while.
Tim Elliot: In this edition of Lawgical, we’re considering – and this is not the usual legal stuff that we’re talking about – we’re talking about guns. We’re talking about firearms in the U.A.E. today, Ludmila. It’s a subject that fascinates me, but it’s straightforward really. The U.A.E.’s not a nation threatened by high levels of gun crime, so it’s reasonable to say, I guess, or is it? That the general rule is that firearms are prohibited. Is that where we should start?
Ludmila Yamalova: The general rule is that firearms are prohibited, and they are strictly regulated.
Tim Elliot: Right. That includes possession of a firearm, carrying them, importing them, exporting, trading, repairing, whatever it is to do with a gun, is illegal in the law.
Ludmila Yamalova: Exactly. It is not just possessing the firearms. It is anything related to firearms, from possessing it, to carrying it, to bringing it from inside the country, outside the country, from repairing, manufacturing, or even selling it, anything related a gun is highly regulation, and the regulations are such that ultimately, with very few narrow exceptions, it is prohibited.
Furthermore, what is interesting is that the prohibition applies not only to working firearms, but any part of a firearm. Any spare parts, any other individual components that can be used for firearms are also covered by the same law, and the same prohibitions and the same regulations apply to any part of a firearm as to the firearm itself.
That means, for example, if you brought from home, wherever it is that your home may be, in your suitcase a spare part that would otherwise be used for a firearm, that is violation of the law and ultimately penalties that it is almost akin to bringing a firearm.
Tim Elliot: That would even be, for example, if you had – I don’t know – an antique firearm that you had on the wall in your house. I mean, that falls under that same category. These regulations are that strict.
Ludmila Yamalova: Yes. These regulations are very strict. Anything that is considered as a firearm – and it doesn’t have to be a working firearm – is subject to the same regulations. Whether it is your antique piece for your family heirloom or a brand-new gadget, the same limitations apply.
Tim Elliot: Okay. The military in the country, the police, and members of the royal family, are permitted to own firearms. You can get special firearms licenses if you are a U.A.E. national. Is that correct?
Ludmila Yamalova: The general rule is that firearms are prohibited. That is the general rule. There are a few exceptions. The general rule is you cannot have a firearm unless you meet one of these exceptions.
One of the exceptions is obviously the U.A.E. armed forces, the police, the security forces, anything to do with state security, and the personnel that work in state security are allowed to have firearms. That is obviously predictable. With regards to those forces and the staff that work within those industries, it is not necessarily the case that they are required to have these special licenses because let’s face it, it is the U.A.E., it is their own government, their own military, their own armed forces, so it is not clear that they are actually required to have a license. It is that the exception applies to them. In other words, they can have firearms, they can have guns and weapons, because the law does not apply to them. In other words, it is not to say that the law requires for them to have a license. It is that they are an exempt category of society that does not fall under this law. That is one exception.
Also, interestingly enough, the law is fairly specific about a category of the U.A.E. society that is also exempt from this law, and that is the royal family and the royal families of the different emirates. It is the rulers and their family, and not just immediate family, but obviously extended family, they also are exempt from this law. Once again, that means, not that they need to apply for licenses, but they are allowed to carry guns without having to apply for a license.
That is, if you will, a second category, with (1) being the armed forces, the security, and police, and (2) is the rulers of the U.A.E.
Then there is third exception of (3) specialized businesses that perhaps are in the industry that would naturally mandate for possession of firearms, shooting ranges and perhaps any kind of training grounds for any of military or police forces.
In particular, because I don’t have a gun or really gone to a shooting range so I cannot speak from personal experience, but what I believe is that the shooting ranges do not necessarily have to be associated with the government. For example, they do not necessarily need to be on a military base. They are more, perhaps private, or semi-private businesses. Those kinds of businesses actually are not necessarily exempt from the law. It is that certain regulations apply to them in order for them to qualify to actually deal with firearms and that is they have to apply for a license. A license will be granted to those kinds of facilities and those kinds of institutions, and that is the shooting ranges.
For the police forces and the security forces, they do not necessarily need to get a license. The shooting ranges do need to get a license, and the license is issued by the Ministry of Interior. Obviously, you can imagine the requirement and eligibility criteria involved in applying for a license through the Ministry of Interior and the process they go through in order to issue a license. That is the third exception.
The fourth and final exception is (4) certain individuals that can be eligible to have or carry firearms. It is not businesses, the royal families, or the security forces. It is individuals. However, these ordinary people have to be U.A.E. nationals. Only U.A.E. nationals can apply to have a firearm, and there is a process for them, but they do need to have a license.
Tim Elliot: Right.
Ludmila Yamalova: Just by virtue of being locals, that does not qualify them. They have to apply, and once again, they have to apply to the Ministry of Interior and meet all of the eligibility requirements, including obtaining a Good Standing Certificate and the Police Clearance Certificate. They do require a license, but in order to apply for the license, they do show the U.A.E. nationality.
Tim Elliot: The controls are pretty strict. I am going to come back to licensed shooting ranges. There aren’t many in the Emirates, but I can attest to the controls there. The thing is in the U.A.E. there is a proud history when it comes to sports shooting because we have Olympic gold medalists in Ahmed Al Maktoum, he won gold in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He got the double trap event. He was 4th in the trap event as well. He now coaches a young British shooter. There is great interest in shooting, and it has been popular for some time.
Let me share a quick story with you about shooting ranges. I went to a Jebulallee Shooting Club, which is one of, I guess, larger or better-known ranges, some years ago because I wanted to try shooting. I had never fired a gun. It’s not something I’ve ever been particularly interested in, but I just thought one day, I fancy trying it. I’m interested in target shooting. I think that’s quite a skill to have, so I thought, alright, here is a time for an experience. It’s easy enough as long as you have an Emirates ID. You sign in. You are offered a choice of different firearms that you can use at the range. I chose a cowboy gun, like a Smith & Wesson six shooter. I paid the money. I think was about 180 dirhams, which is – what? – $50 U.S. dollars. Then I was taken down to the range. I’m thinking, this is pretty straightforward, but as soon as we got to the underground range, you realize how strict it is. Every shell that is fired is counted. Everything. You have an expert with you, an instructor with you, who is on duty all the time. Even when you are firing at the target, he is there with you, and everything is accounted for. It was a really strictly controlled environment. A lot of fun. But it backs up everything that you have said there. This is a very, very regulated industry.
Ludmila Yamalova: Indeed. I just wanted to mention that there is actually a specific law, obviously, that regulates this industry and sets out these requirements. That law is the Federal Decree Law Number 17 of 2019. The full title of the law is quite long, but it is the relevant parts, it is the law that is regulating weapons, ammunition, explosives, military hardware, and hazardous substances, and other similar materials. This is the same law that not only regulates firearms, but also other types of weapons, for example, swords, if you will, and some of the types of perhaps nonexplosive types of devices, and equally so, it is the same law that regulates fireworks because it does refer to explosives. Then also the Ministry of Interior has a number of sources, circulars and regulations that set out the requirements to apply for the license. Anyone who is interested perhaps in learning more about what type of substances are regulated by this law and how to apply, the Ministry of Interior is also a very helpful resource, at least in terms of seeing what the application form and the application process looks like.
But the law, if you think about it, is fairly new, from 2019. Obviously, the government felt it was important to introduce a very comprehensive and very specific law that regulates this very industry. Among other things, there is a list of items that are prohibited in the various limitations and regulations that apply to them, there is a whole list of penalties that would apply in the event somebody is found to have violated. The penalties include monetary fines of up to 1 million dirhams to a jail sentence, including life imprisonment, obviously depending on the gravity of the violation.
Tim Elliot: That’s another episode of Lawgical, this time firearms, guns, explosives, firearms and guns in the U.A.E. Our legal expert here on Lawgical, as ever, was Ludmila Yamalova, the Managing Partner at Yamalova & Plewka in JLT. Thank you, Ludmila, for your time and always your expertise as well.
Ludmila Yamalova: Thank you, Tim, very much for not only your expertise, but for your personal experience and adding some color to this story.
Tim Elliot: I was not a good shot. At 30 yards, it went awry, let me tell you. To have a legal question answered in a future episode of Lawgical or if you’d like a consultation with a qualified U.A.E. experienced legal professional, it’s easy to find us on social media. We’ve also got now an easy-to-search library with hundreds of podcasts on all manner of legal issues here in the U.A.E., and they are free to listen to and download. If you prefer, you can always just head to LYLawyers.com and click Contact.
