Cyprus licenses hunting shotguns and almost nothing else. The Firearms and Non-Firearms Weapons Law of 2004 (Law 113(I)/2004) prohibits acquiring, holding or moving any Category A, B or C firearm, then carves out one exception for Category C8, the plain hunting shotgun. Self-defence appears nowhere in the statute as a reason for a licence, and there is no ordinary route to a handgun for personal protection.
The only firearm most residents can own
Category C8 is defined in the First Schedule as a single-shot long gun with a smooth bore, no more than two barrels, and a barrel no shorter than 60 cm (24 inches). Pistols, revolvers, short-barrelled pump actions and most semi-automatics fall into Categories A, B or the other parts of C, where section 4(1) bans them outright. What you need there is an exception, and the exceptions are narrow.
The C8 licence is issued by the Chief of Police under section 5, and it attaches to the gun rather than to the owner. A second shotgun means a second application and a second fee: €40 per weapon, or €20 for a .410 Flobert. Once the gun arrives in the Republic or is bought here, you have two working days to present it to the Police Director of any district for inspection and registration, which costs a further €20 and produces a registration certificate separate from the licence.
Storage is a statutory duty. Section 36 requires the gun to be kept in a safe place and a safe condition, with the ammunition stored so that it is not immediately accessible in the same spot. Above ten firearms at one address, the occupier must fit an alarm connected to the police or hold a cabinet meeting the dealers' standard. Section 35 treats the occupier of any premises where a weapon is found as the person in possession of it until the contrary is proved, which is worth knowing if you let out a property.
What the police check before granting a licence
Section 5(4)(c) sets the conditions. The applicant must be 18, must not have been judged dangerous to themselves, to others or to public order by a court or a government medical board, and must not have been found of unsound mind under section 70 of the Criminal Procedure Law. Two further bars are particular to Cyprus: exemption from military service, or a deferral of it, granted on mental health grounds under the National Guard Law, and a prohibition imposed by the parole board. The Chief of Police can demand a medical certificate from anyone he thinks may not qualify.
Then there is the conviction list, which is a specific schedule rather than a general good-character test. It runs from homicide, rape and arson through robbery, explosives and drug offences to domestic violence and game offences committed with a weapon. Law 208(I)/2025, published in the Official Gazette on 9 December 2025, added offences under section 5 of the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Law to it.
A conviction is not always permanent. Ten years after conviction and ten years after release, an applicant can try again, and for arson, drug, hemp and game offences the Minister can shorten that on the police chief's recommendation. Someone who received only a fine can reapply after two years if they stay clean. Being charged is enough to stop you shooting in the meantime: the licence is suspended and the gun goes into police custody until the case is decided.
The hunting licence is a separate application to a different ministry
People assume the gun licence and the hunting licence are one thing. They are two, issued by different authorities under different laws, and the order matters. Section 31(2) of the Protection and Management of Wild Birds and Game Law of 2003 (Law 152(I)/2003) grants a first hunting licence only to someone who already holds a possession licence for a hunting bow or a smooth-bore shoulder gun carrying one cartridge per chamber, and who has attended four periods of training and passed a special examination. Section 37 then blocks the Minister from granting or renewing one to anyone without that firearms licence, anyone convicted under either law, and anyone who has offended inside the British Sovereign Base Areas, which run their own weapons legislation at Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
The courses are open from 17 and cover species identification, the legislation, hunting methods, guns and cartridges, safety rules and first aid, plus a practical part on handling the gun and shooting. If a foreign applicant does not speak Greek, the head of the Game and Fauna Service can set a different form of examination, including an oral one with an interpreter.
The fees are fixed in Annex VIII to the law:
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Application for a first hunting licence | €30 |
| Training courses and examination | €60 |
| First hunting licence | €77 |
| Annual renewal, under 65 | €77 |
| Annual renewal, 65 to 79 | €43 |
| Annual renewal, 80 and over | Free |
| Hunting accompanied by up to two dogs | €10 |
| Air gun hunting licence | €20 |
Every holder must keep third-party liability insurance in force under section 38, and must produce the licence on demand when hunting or when carrying a gun, cartridges or game in a vehicle during the open season. It expires on the 31 July following issue, so it is an annual commitment.
Handguns, and what changed in 2025
The one civilian route to a short firearm runs through section 4(2), covering Category B1 (short repeating firearms) and B5 (short semi-automatics). The application goes in writing to the Chief of Police, and since Law 199(I)/2025, published on 21 November 2025, it has to state the reason it is being made. He grants it only with Cabinet approval, only where a genuine reason exists and no public order ground stands against it, and for no longer than a year at a time. He can suspend or revoke it on public security grounds without giving reasons. The holder must also pass police-run training, and failing it costs them the licence.
Competitive shooters use a different door. Section 4(3)(b1) allows a special licence for Category B and C firearms used at a licensed range, valid for up to three years at €100, on proof of active competition with the Cyprus Shooting Federation or of club membership plus regular practice for twelve months.
Pepper spray, tasers and air guns
Section 25 prohibits importing, making, marketing, acquiring, transporting or possessing any object made or adapted to discharge electricity, or to project a harmful liquid, gas, chemical or other substance or energy. Pepper spray and stun devices fall inside that wording, and unlike most restrictions in the Act it comes with no licensing route at all. The penalty runs to five years. Anyone who packs a self-defence spray for a holiday is importing a prohibited article, a point that catches out more visitors than the rules on drones or the other laws newcomers get wrong.
Air guns up to 4.5 mm need their own licence from the Chief of Police at €15, and larger calibres go only to shooting club members for use at a licensed range. Section 24A separately bans transporting an air pistol or revolver of any calibre without a licence authorising that movement, at five years or €5,000. Paintball guns, sport pistols, spear guns and competition bows are licensed under section 24 at €15.
The knife rules people trip over
Weapons law here does not stop at firearms, and the Criminal Code, Cap. 154, is stricter than most arrivals expect. Section 82 makes it an offence to carry a knife outside your home or its yard: one year for a blade that does not end in a point, and one year with a six-month minimum for one that does, unless the court records its reasons for going lower. A double-edged knife, which the Code defines to include a sword in any form, carries two years with a one-year minimum under section 81.
The exceptions are real but tight. Section 84 permits a closed pocket knife with a blade up to four inches if it is not pointed, or up to two and a half inches if it is, provided it cannot be sprung or converted into a fixed or double-edged blade. Knives made for decoration, and knives intended by their design for household, professional, sporting, hunting or fishing use, sit outside the definitions altogether, and section 82(4) gives a defence to anyone who proves the knife was carried for a lawful purpose that required it. In a provision that surprises people, section 86A makes carrying handcuffs without the Chief of Police's permission an offence.
What it costs to get it wrong
Section 51(1) is the catch-all. Where the Act provides no other penalty, an offence carries up to 15 years' imprisonment or a fine of up to €42,715, or both, and any weapon connected with it is seized and forfeited or destroyed. Breaching a condition of a licence you hold is a lesser matter at six months, and the court can strip the licence for a further two years. Several of the older penalty clauses are still expressed in Cyprus pounds, a currency withdrawn in 2008, so check the current figure with a lawyer rather than doing your own arithmetic on the section.
One situation comes up more often than the drafting suggests. When a licence holder dies, section 5(8)(b) lets the heir, executor or administrator hold the shotgun for six months. After that, whoever has it must hand it to the nearest police station for safekeeping until the estate is wound up. Families inheriting a village house sometimes find a gun in a cupboard and no idea a clock is running, which is worth raising early alongside the rest of the estate work if you are moving here from the UK.
Facing a firearms charge, a refused licence or a seized weapon? Browse the directory for a litigation lawyer or one in Nicosia, and confirm current fees and forms with the Firearms Registry Office of the Cyprus Police and the Game and Fauna Service. Figures here reflect the law as amended to December 2025.