Firearm parts: you now need a licence to buy them

It is a change in what counts as a “weapon” for the law’s purposes. Until now many people thought in terms of the complete firearm; Act 123-2026 puts in writing that the slide, the barrel, the chamber and the firing mechanism are firearm parts, and that acquiring them requires a current licence. Buying one of those pieces online without a licence stopped being a spare-part purchase and became a felony.

Anyone in Puerto Rico who acquires, possesses, carries, transports or uses a firearm or a firearm part. To acquire parts, subsection (e)(12) requires a current weapons licence issued by the Police of Puerto Rico and that the parts be compatible with the firearms registered in your name.

• Holding a current weapons licence issued by the Police of Puerto Rico in order to acquire firearm parts.Verified against the official source
• That the parts be compatible with the firearms registered in your name. The subsection writes it as a condition, not a recommendation.Verified against the official source

• The law publishes no document list: it creates no new procedure, it extends the licence requirement to acquiring parts. The requirements for obtaining the licence are in Act 168-2019, which we did not read.

1. 1

   Step 1: Know the four essential parts

   The Article 1.02(ec) definition is general — any component that would typically attach to a firearm and is necessary for its essential operation in the process of firing a projectile — and then it gets specific: the essential parts covered by this definition are the slide, the barrel, the chamber and the firing mechanism. Those four are the ones the law names.

2. 2

   Step 2: Buying online does not exempt you

   Subsection (e)(12) closes that door expressly: a current weapons licence is required to acquire firearm parts compatible with the firearms registered in your name, “whether at a local armoury, directly abroad over the Internet, or by any other lawful means”. All three channels fall under the same rule.

3. 3

   Step 3: Possessing a part without a licence is five fixed years

   Article 6.08 was written to include them: anyone who without holding a weapons licence has or possesses a firearm or firearm part commits a felony and is punished with a fixed five-year term of imprisonment. With aggravating circumstances the penalty may rise to a maximum of ten years; with mitigating ones, drop to a minimum of one year. It is aggravating that the weapon was reported stolen or illegally appropriated, or illegally imported into Puerto Rico.

4. 4

   Step 4: Carrying or transporting is ten, with no way out

   Article 6.05 is the harshest and worth reading in full. Anyone who carries, transports or uses any firearm, or parts of a firearm, without a current licence — save as provided for shooting ranges or hunting grounds — commits a felony punished with a fixed ten-year term of imprisonment, with no right to a suspended sentence, to the benefits of any diversion programme, or to any alternative to imprisonment recognised in this jurisdiction. With aggravating circumstances it may rise to twenty years; with mitigating ones drop to five.

5. 5

   Step 5: You do not need to own a firearm to get the licence

   The same Article 2.02 says it in subsection (j): owning a firearm is not a requirement for obtaining a weapons licence. It is the fact that helps someone who does not yet own a firearm but is going to acquire parts or plans to buy.

6. 6

   Step 6: If you want out, there is a written route

   Subsection (i) provides that at any time a person may surrender their weapons licence to the Weapons Licence Office for cancellation, and jointly deliver their weapons to the Police, or may sell, donate, transfer or assign them to another person holding a current weapons or armourer licence.

The weapons licence is issued by the Police of Puerto Rico, and the Weapons Licence Office is where it is surrendered for cancellation. This Act publishes no address, portal or form.

• Thinking a spare part is not a weapon: the law names the slide, barrel, chamber and firing mechanism as essential parts.
• Believing buying abroad online falls outside: the text expressly covers the local armoury, abroad over the Internet, and any other lawful means.
• Acquiring parts not compatible with the firearms registered in your name: the subsection makes that compatibility a condition.
• Confusing possession with carrying: possessing without a licence is five fixed years; carrying, transporting or using is ten, with no suspended sentence and no diversion.
• Not getting the licence because you do not yet own a firearm: subsection (j) expressly says owning one is not a requirement.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Policía de Puerto Rico

  Policía de PR

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov