Overview
Belize regulates civilian firearms through the Firearms Act, Chapter 143 of the Substantive Laws of Belize. The Act is long-standing legislation — its principal text dates to 1913 and has been consolidated in successive revised editions (Revised Edition 2000, and most recently the Revised Edition 2020) and amended many times. The most significant recent change is the Firearms (Amendment) Act, 2023 (No. 43 of 2023), gazetted on 11 November 2023, which amends "the Firearms Act, Chapter 143 of the Substantive Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2020." This overview and the sections that follow rely on the consolidated statute text and that 2023 amendment.
Under the Firearms Act, private firearm possession is licensed rather than prohibited, but it is treated as a conditional privilege rather than a right. Section 3 of the Act provides that "no person shall own, keep, carry, discharge or use any firearm or ammunition unless he has been granted a gun licence." The Act defines a "firearm" broadly, to include "any weapon or other thing of any description from which any shot, bullet or other missile can be discharged," together with component parts and sound- or flash-suppressing accessories, while excluding toy guns and toy pistols. "Ammunition" is defined to include explosive substances but not air-gun or air-pistol pellets.
Historically, licences were granted by the Commissioner of Police. The Firearms (Amendment) Act, 2023 restructured this administration by establishing a Firearms and Ammunition Control Board (FACB) and transferring the licensing, revocation and oversight functions previously exercised by the Commissioner of Police to the Board. According to the 2023 amendment, the Board is appointed by the Minister and includes a representative of the Commissioner of Police, a representative of the Magistracy, and a Chief Executive Officer of the Government of Belize. Its functions include "receiving, screening, and processing firearm applications," designating approved Firearm Safety Instructors, investigating complaints, auditing firearms and ammunition, reviewing the issuance and denial of licences, and developing a digital firearms-management system. The Board was constituted in early 2024, and the Ministry of Home Affairs now publishes FACB application forms.
The Act distinguishes ordinary firearms — for which a licence may be granted subject to conditions — from a category of entirely prohibited firearms (discussed under "Ownership & licensing" and "Penalties"). It also separates administrative offences (such as holding no licence) from serious criminal offences involving firearms used or possessed with unlawful intent. Because Belize is a small country with a common-law legal system, firearms prosecutions are brought before the courts of summary jurisdiction or, at the discretion of the Director of Public Prosecutions, on indictment. Readers should note that specific figures reproduced below (fees, some penalty amounts) trace to particular amendment years and may have been updated in later revised editions or subsidiary regulations; where a specific has not been confirmed against the current text, this article generalises and flags the uncertainty.
Ownership & licensing
Civilian ownership in Belize is licensed. Section 3 of the Firearms Act makes it an offence to own, keep, carry, discharge or use any firearm or ammunition without a gun licence, and section 3 further provides that a licensed person may not "own or keep a greater number of firearms or ammunition than is specified in his licence." There is therefore no general right to acquire arms; each licence authorises specified firearms and a specified quantity of ammunition.
The Act contemplates several categories of gun licence. The statutory table lists a Special Protection Licence, a Gun Repair Licence, a Sport Hunters Licence, and a Farmers Gun Licence, with different fees for citizens and non-citizens. (The precise fee figures in the consolidated 2000 text — for example, a modest fee for a citizen's Farmers Gun Licence and higher fees for non-citizens — predate later fee amendments and should be confirmed with the Firearms and Ammunition Control Board before being relied on, as the Minister may vary the fee table by Order.)
Eligibility is governed by section 7. According to the Firearms Act, a licence shall not be granted to a person under sixteen years of age; to a person convicted of a crime of violence to the person or against the public peace within the three years immediately preceding the application (except for some special reason shown); to a person who at the time of application already possesses a firearm (except for some special reason); to a person the licensing authority considers not "a fit and proper person"; to a person unable to show reasonable ground for a licence; in respect of a firearm considered dangerously unsafe; or to a person whose previous firearm was lost or stolen through his own negligence. Following the 2023 amendment, these determinations are made by the Firearms and Ammunition Control Board rather than the Commissioner of Police, and an aggrieved applicant may petition the Minister.
The 2023 amendment added a competence requirement: section 3A now provides that "every first time applicant and every person applying for the renewal of a gun licence shall submit a certificate of competence from a Firearm Safety Instructor," although a person renewing a Farmers Gun Licence is exempt from providing that certificate at renewal. Consistent with this, official guidance from the Belize Police Department states that application forms specify the purpose for which the firearm is needed and that applicants provide personal details, reasons for ownership, and references, and warns that making false statements in the application is an offence.
Ownership records are maintained centrally. Section 10 requires a register of licences to be kept, with entries published periodically in the Gazette, so licensed firearms are effectively registered to their holders by number and description. A licence expires on the holder's next birthday after it is granted and must be renewed (section 8), and a licence becomes void if the holder fails to acquire the specified firearm within three months of issue (section 3). Because a valid licence is tied to specific, quantity-limited firearms and ammunition, Belize's scheme functions as a per-firearm registration and licensing system rather than a shall-issue permit system.
Carry & transport
In Belize, the same licence that authorises ownership also governs carrying: section 3 of the Firearms Act ties owning, keeping, carrying, discharging and using a firearm together, so lawful carry requires a valid gun licence for the firearm carried. The Act does not draw the open-carry/concealed-carry distinction familiar from some other jurisdictions; instead it regulates carrying through licence conditions, categorical restrictions, and offences tied to intent and location. Of the statutory licence categories, the Special Protection Licence is the category associated with carrying a firearm for personal protection.
Section 17 requires a licence-holder to carry the licence "with him at all times when he is carrying or using the firearm specified in the licence," and to produce it to a police officer on demand; failure to do so is an offence. Police powers reinforce this: under sections 21 and 22, an officer may require production of a licence, and may arrest without warrant and search a person believed to be carrying or using a firearm or ammunition in contravention of the Act, seizing the firearm pending proceedings. According to section 29, where a defendant claims to be licensed or exempt, the burden of proving the licence or exemption lies on that person.
The Act also empowers the authorities to restrict carrying in particular circumstances. Under section 19, the Minister may, by Order published in the Gazette, prohibit the carrying of firearms or ammunition in any district or part of Belize, or prohibit carrying by persons who are not citizens of Belize. Section 43 permits the Minister, on the recommendation of the Commissioner of Police, to make regulations restricting the carrying of firearms — including by licence holders — at places of public entertainment or public functions, where he is satisfied that carrying there may result in a breach of the peace. Section 42 makes it an offence to have a firearm or ammunition in one's possession while under the influence of drugs or alcohol above the prescribed limit, subject to a limited defence of extreme necessity.
Discharge of firearms in public space is separately controlled. According to section 40, a person commits an offence who discharges any firearm or ammunition on or within forty yards of any public road or any public place, except in the lawful protection of persons or property, under the direction of a competent authority, with the permission of the Commissioner of Police, or for another lawful excuse — and the burden of establishing lawfulness rests on the person asserting it.
Transport of firearms between private parties is regulated through the carrier provisions. Section 18 requires a person who delivers firearms or ammunition to a carrier for delivery to another person within Belize to give the carrier a written certificate confirming the recipient is licensed; a carrier may not receive firearms without that certificate, must keep it, and must not hold the firearms longer than reasonably necessary for delivery. Contravening these carrier rules is an offence. Taken together, these provisions mean that both carrying a firearm on one's person and moving firearms through third parties are permitted only within the licence-and-certificate framework the Act establishes.
Travel & import
Bringing firearms into Belize and moving them across the border is tightly controlled by the Firearms Act, and the rules differ for imported firearms and for travellers arriving with firearms in their possession. The Act treats importation as a distinct, licence-gated activity and treats a traveller's personal firearm as something that must be surrendered to police custody on entry unless and until licensing or departure requirements are met.
On importation, section 12 provides that "no firearms or ammunition imported into Belize shall be delivered to any person unless and until such person satisfies the Comptroller of Customs that he is licensed under this Act." Imported firearms and ammunition are therefore held by customs and released only to a person who holds the appropriate licence, integrating the import channel with the domestic licensing regime administered (following the 2023 amendment) by the Firearms and Ammunition Control Board. The manufacture or assembly of firearms and ammunition is separately prohibited without a licence under section 41, and the Minister retains power under section 19 to prohibit or condition the sale of firearms and ammunition, including sales to non-citizens.
For travellers, section 13 governs firearms "brought into Belize from a neighbouring state." It provides that "every person entering Belize with firearms or ammunition in his possession shall forthwith deposit them with the officer or constable in charge of a police station." The deposited items remain in police custody until the person either produces a licence under the Act or satisfies the officer that he is about to depart Belize forthwith, in which case the firearms or ammunition are returned to him. A person who fails to deposit firearms at the first available opportunity, or who has them returned on the basis of imminent departure but then does not leave promptly by the customary route, commits an offence. Deposited firearms and ammunition are stored at the owner's risk, and if not claimed and returned within one month may be destroyed or disposed of as the Minister directs.
The practical effect for visitors is that Belize does not operate a casual visitor-carry scheme: a traveller cannot simply bring a personal firearm into the country and carry it. Absent a Belizean licence, an arriving firearm must be surrendered to police, and it can be reclaimed only on departure or on the grant of a licence. Non-citizens who do obtain a licence pay the non-citizen fees set out in the statutory fee table, and the Minister's power under section 19 to prohibit carrying by non-citizens applies to them as well.
Because international transport of firearms also engages the laws of neighbouring states, customs procedure, and airline and vessel rules, anyone planning to travel to or from Belize with a firearm would need to confirm current entry requirements with the Belize Police Department, the Firearms and Ammunition Control Board, and the Comptroller of Customs. The Act's text establishes the domestic framework — surrender on entry, licence-gated release, and licensed importation — but the specific administrative steps and any current permit forms are matters for those authorities; details not confirmed in the statute are treated here as procedural rather than settled law.
Hunting & sport shooting
The Firearms Act accommodates hunting and target/sport use primarily through its licence categories and through carve-outs for organised shooting, while the conduct of hunting itself — seasons, protected species, and game — is governed by separate Belizean wildlife legislation rather than the Firearms Act. On the firearms side, the statutory table of gun licences expressly includes a Sport Hunters Licence and a Farmers Gun Licence, indicating that recreational hunting and agricultural/pest-control use are recognised lawful purposes for which a firearm licence may be granted.
The Farmers Gun Licence has a distinctive feature. According to section 3, when applying for a Farmers Gun Licence the applicant may request that the names of immediate family members or farm workers be included in the licence, and the licensing authority may, if satisfied those persons are not disqualified, list them as persons who may lawfully use the licensed firearm — a list that can later be amended at the licence-holder's request. The 2023 amendment also treats the Farmers Gun Licence specially by exempting a person renewing that licence from the new certificate-of-competence requirement at the time of renewal, although first-time applicants for any licence, including sport hunters, must submit a certificate of competence from a Firearm Safety Instructor.
Sport shooting and target practice are further recognised in the way the Act limits its own application. Section 33 provides that the Act does not apply to members of the naval, military, air or volunteer forces, the Police Department, or the Prison or Revenue Services when keeping, carrying or using firearms in the performance of their duties "or when engaged in target practice or going to or returning from any place for such purpose" — an express acknowledgement of organised target shooting, albeit framed around official personnel. For civilian sport shooters, participation is mediated through the ordinary licensing regime and the applicable licence category.
The firearms available for hunting and sport are constrained by the Act's prohibited-weapons list in section 35 (detailed under "Penalties"), which bars, among other things, rifles of 7.62 calibre or higher. This calibre ceiling is relevant to hunters, because some common hunting and sporting rifle calibres fall at or above that threshold and would fall within the prohibited category, while lower-calibre rifles and ordinary (non-sawn-off) shotguns may be licensed. Historically, the transitional provisions in section 37 dealt with owners of unrifled shotguns, requiring them to apply for a licence to retain such firearms.
Beyond the firearm licence, lawful hunting in Belize requires compliance with the country's wildlife-protection and forestry laws, which regulate hunting seasons, licensing of hunters, and protected species. The Firearms Act does not itself set those hunting rules, and this article does not state specific season dates, bag limits, or protected-species lists, because those are governed by separate legislation not examined here; prospective hunters should consult the Belize Forest Department and the relevant wildlife-protection statute. What the Firearms Act establishes is the firearms dimension: that hunting and sport shooting are recognised purposes, that dedicated Sport Hunters and Farmers licence categories exist, that competence certification is now generally required, and that the choice of firearm remains subject to the Act's calibre and configuration prohibitions.
Penalties
The Firearms Act provides a layered penalty structure, distinguishing ordinary offences under the Act from possession of categorically prohibited firearms and from firearms offences involving criminal intent. The figures below are drawn from the consolidated statute text (the penalty provisions in section 32 trace to amendments including Act No. 6 of 1994); because the current base text is the Revised Edition 2020 and subsidiary regulations may adjust amounts, the specific monetary figures should be confirmed against the current edition, and the framework is described qualitatively where confirmation is not possible.
Section 32 sets the general penalty. According to the consolidated text, a person guilty of an offence under the Act is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both; and, on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding five years, or both. The Director of Public Prosecutions has discretion whether an offence is prosecuted summarily or on indictment. The Act as consolidated also prescribes mandatory minimum custodial terms — for example, a minimum term for a first offence and a longer minimum for a second or subsequent offence — but it couples these with a judicial escape valve: the court may, for a first offence, decline to impose the mandatory custodial sentence where there are "special extenuating circumstances" recorded in writing, and instead impose a fine, imposing a minimum fine in lieu. The statute defines special extenuating circumstances to include cases where the person held a valid licence that had expired and was not renewed inadvertently, or had a reasonable excuse for possessing the firearm. Mandatory minimum firearm sentences of this kind have been the subject of constitutional litigation in Belize; because that case law was not verified against a primary source for this article, its current effect is noted as an open question rather than stated as settled.
For the simplest administrative failure — not holding a licence — section 5 provides that a person who contravenes the licensing requirements is guilty of an offence and that the firearms or ammunition involved are liable to forfeiture on the order of the court.
The most severe categorical rule is section 35, which prohibits possession of certain firearms outright. According to the Firearms Act, no person (including a gun-dealer) may own, keep, carry, use or possess: a rifle of 7.62 or higher calibre; a revolver of .44 or higher calibre; a magnum revolver of .357 calibre; a sawed-off shotgun of any calibre; or a machine gun of any calibre. A person who contravenes section 35 is liable, whether on summary conviction or on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not less than three years but which may extend to seven years. The Act provided for surrender of such prohibited firearms and, in defined circumstances, compensation based on market value — subject to the qualification that no compensation is payable for firearms kept contrary to law.
The Act creates further specific offences: possession of a firearm or imitation firearm with intent to cause a belief that unlawful violence will be used (section 38); having a firearm with criminal intent, such as to commit an offence or resist arrest (section 39); unlawful discharge near public places (section 40); possession while intoxicated (section 42); prohibited dealings with gas-discharging weapons (section 16); and forging licences (section 31). On conviction, courts must order forfeiture of the firearm that is the subject of the offence, and may order forfeiture of vehicles or vessels used to transport firearms unlawfully, subject to a mechanism for innocent third parties to seek revocation of a forfeiture order.
Sources
- Firearms (Amendment) Act, 2023 (No. 43 of 2023) — National Assembly of Belize (accessed 2026-07-17)
- Belize Police Department — "How do I apply for a firearm license?" (accessed 2026-07-17)
- Ministry of Home Affairs (Belize) — Firearms and Ammunition Control Board, Application for Firearm Licence (Individual) (accessed 2026-07-17)
- Firearms Act, Chapter 143, Substantive Laws of Belize (Revised Edition 2000) — full consolidated text (accessed 2026-07-17)
- GunPolicy.org — Guns in Belize: firearms, gun law and gun control (accessed 2026-07-17)