Bringing firearms from the US to Guatemala

Hola!

I am moving to Guatemala in ~6 months.  I have been there several times and I have my permanent residency.  I have seen posts here and on other boards saying that guns are legal in GT, and I have been to a couple gun stores there so know this to be true.  My question is not about buying or owning a firearm there, but rather bringing them from the US to GT.

By way of background, I have been a competitive shooter (3rd generation) for 40 years.  I have many firearms that have been heavily customized, have been entirely custom built for me, or that I have built.  These include pistols and rifles.  Many of these were built by gunsmiths who have since retired, or how literally thousands of dollars invested in them.  So I am not talking about a simple Glock 19 that is the same anywhere.

Is it possible to bring these in to the country?  Anyone know the process and costs?  What about reloading supplies like primers and gun powder?

Please, I am not looking for a debate, I am looking for honest answers preferably based on real experience.  Thanks in advance!

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I don't know if anyone answered your question or not.  I would love to know any answers you got.   I lived for 26 years in Mexico and am a permanent resident.  I have owned a lot of firearms there and did the whole reloading thing -- I ran the NRA-Action Shooting Section of the Queretero/San Miguel de Allende Clubs for about 10 years.

However, my wife and I are looking at Guatemala as an alternative to Mexico as Mexico is pretty dangerous right now.   At least, where we live, it is.   I don't mind buying guns new as there is no way to bring your guns from the US or Canada to Mexico (well, okay, there is, but it leaves a papertrail).  However, the need to reload is important.   

I'd love to know if you got any replies.

Cheers!
Calmex

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I have had zero replies.  I did find an FBI agent who retired to GT and is at about 18 months right now waiting for a half dozen pistols to clear customs.  He has been working with an attorney the entire time.  Based on that, it doesnt look good.  I have all of my reloading equipment packed and ready to go on the cargo container - but no actual powder or primers.  I had a ton of ADG and other brass.  Most of what I shoot is long range rifle and getting my custom 6.5PRC, .300PRC, .300 Norma Mag, and similar rifles through is not looking promising.  These were all built by prominent US gunsmiths that I know I wont be able to get down there.

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In Mexico, using a lawyer to try to get firearms is just paying someone to suck money out of you.   The SEDENA (Secretaria de Defensa Nacional -- the Mexican Army) has a low opinion of lawyers and especially civilian lawyers "helping" a foreigner.    Try to avoid them.

Find out the laws pertaining to firearms ownership and then try to find a local Club.   This can be annoying as the Clubs tend to be less than welcoming to outsiders.   Then try to find a local gun you can register and join the Club with.   Once you are in, you are "in".   You will make many contacts and learn the ropes to gun ownership in Guatemala.  You won't find many Americans or Canadians in local gun clubs and once you get yourself in, I advise against trying to "import" foreign friends and friends of friends into the Clubs because that will probably work against you.   Let those people do it on their own.  Trust me on this.

In Mexico, guns cost more than in the U.S. and they are harder to get.   Be that as it may, I have quite a few in Mexico as does my wife as well as transport permits that cover the entire country.   So it can be done.  I should mention that all the people you will be dealing with in the gun registration system are not going to speak English and (at least in Mexico) taking a translator with you is the kiss of death.   When that Army Officer is asking you in Spanish (even if he secretly speaks English) "why do you want to own a gun?" he's asking you, not some translator guy or girl and will probably take it poorly.  Try to speak Spanish as well as possible.   If you have a Guatemalan wife or husband that would help a lot too probably but it's better if you do you own talking.

Speaking from the Mexican point of view -- which has stricter gun laws than Guatemala I think -- it absolutely can be done but it certainly isn't easy to do it.   I would not count on being able to import guns from the U.S. legally.   And a lawyer telling you that you can is probably just sucking money on a false promise.   That's my opinion.   Someone actually doing it would certainly prove me wrong.

Mexico has it's own firearms website under the name Mexico Armado.   It covers in depth Mexican firearms laws, registry problems and offers a used firearm exchange as well.  It is 100% in Spanish.  It would not surprise me if a similar site exists in Guatemala.    I do know that the current group running IPSC Mexico is looking at forming a Central American shooting circle comprising Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras and a couple of other countries as well.   I did an online Zoom interview for the Mexican Federacion de Tiro (FEMETI) over a year ago where we discuss this and the FEMETI group continues to post interviews from IPSC Clubs and regions throughout Central America.

So it's all happening.   But it's happening in Spanish and probably that's how you'll have to search the information out -- in Spanish.   Keep me informed as to how it's working on finding information about firearms ownership in Guatemala and if I find out anything myself I'll post it here for you.
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