Never seen Estonian before who speaks English with Finnish accent. Strange, because usually Estonian doesn't sound as ugly as Finnish and their accents when speaking foreign languages reflect that. Maybe he just has shot too many guns or something like that.
I can understand why americans might be sceptical of a trust based relationships with the government. Thing is, with Estonia being so small, it is much easier to hold people accountable both in public and private sectors. Also with our history we are much more concerned with external threats to freedom rather than expecting tyranny from our own authorities.
Very true. A lot of people from both sides of the pond forget that the United States is larger in size than the European Union. If the entire nation was the size of say, New York, I dont think any Americans would have a problem with a trust based system like Estonia.
I think you've pointed out something very important. Most of the countries with very liberal gun laws are relatively small. Bigger countries tend to have more restrictive gun laws. Trust doesn't scale.
Very true. Americans have very little trust in their government overall. Hell, I barely trust my state government to do anything intelligently. Glad you guys can trust yours.
One thing that wasnt mentioned in this video is the Estonian Defence League - a paramilitary organization linked with the Estonian Defence Forces, if you are a member of it you could in fact hold an automatic battle rifle in your home. There are some requirements to keeping a gun at home - having a safe.
@@fillosof66689 Active members have to be Estonian citizens. While Estonia has conscription not everyone is selected for service so the EDL is another way to serve for those willing to defend their country. It is also a way for those of us who gained citizenship late in life being born overseas to serve.
Nicholas van Rijn They are more considered to be the first reaction force. Actual military reserves are those who have had served in the army, as everyone who does is counted as reservists after their 8-11 month conscript duty
Huh, so their militia force can own weapons like that? A militia that many would consider to be...well regulated? What an interesting and intriguing concept
Sebastien Hardinger I think it is equated to the US National Guard in Estonia. Also, very well regulated, new chief of the estonian defence league is the former chief of special forces
Exactly, it just needs to be a vault room. Works similar where I'm from. (2 guns/500 rounds don't have specified precautions. Up to 10 guns/10,000 rounds require a heavy duty metal locker, above 10 guns/10k rounds need a proper safe and for more than 20 guns/20,000 rounds, you need a vault room.)
I don't think anything stops someone else using your gun safe. You and your wife (for example) could both get a gun liscence and use the same gun safe. You can have more than nine guns, but the other nine are your wifes
@@Fizbun Wouldn't bet on it. Our law specifies guns per container, not guns per owner, and I bet it works the same in Estonia, since this would be a really obvious loophole and it would kinda defeat the whole purpose of this regulation.
Also switzerland. Altho kinda hard to do right now because it is changing to EU conform laws in a month and very hard to tell, even for us, how restrictive or liberal it will be implemented.
@@oktayyildirim2911 It makes sense to make a direct translation of the word "Česko" and most people go along with it and use it, but "Czech republic" is still very much the official name. Many people, myself included, think "Czechia" sounds really dumb. But I suspect we'll get used to it eventually.
I really love Estonia. I spent many hours watching the Laulupidu Song Festival just days ago. Watch it here on youtube, amazing! Such a fine People. Greetings from Germany.
Ian, thanks for the time and effort in posting these videos. It's interesting to see that contrary to popular belief, that many other countries DO allow citizens some form of gun ownership. Despite the condition 3 carry requirement, it seems that Estonia allows carrying for self defense. Unusual for many of these countries. One recommendation: come up with a standardized format so each video has commonality with the rest. 1.) is gun ownership allowed? 2.) what hoops do you have to jump through? 3.) What and how many are you allowed? 4.) can you use a firearm for self defense? can you carry? etc.
Not unusual at all. Estonia has rich history of strife with its neighbors *cough* Russia *cough*. The nation is very advanced, progressive, and independent minded through necessity and historical reasons.
Yeah, question four is important, and often an eye-opener. Like that whole, shoot an attacking dog, have all firearms ownership privelages removed, shoot a rapist go to prison for murder rap one country had.
You can use a firearm for self defense in Estonia but there are rules for it. Basically the assailant has to be armed with a deadly weapon and you have to do everything in your power to avoid deadly force. Normally it would go this way:1) Verbal warning 2) A warning shot in a safe direction 3) Shooting the assailant. If it is possible you should only wound them. Exception is if the threat is so imminent that you have to discharge your weapon immediately. I know of a one instance where a off duty police officer went to jail because they didn't make the warning shot in a safe way and injured a innocent bystander. Thet went to jail for 5 years. Each shooting is investigated. Also at least the males in Estonia attend a National Defence class in high school and learn gun safety and how to attain it and some legalities that go with it. For example I learned how to disassemble and assemble an AKM type asssault rifle in school. My National Defence class teacher actually racked a live round into a chamber of a CZ-75 pistol in the classroom when showing gun safety steps. You never forget such a thing. The teachers that give that class are military personnel. Usually they are in the Defence League. We also had a class about laws. I think it was mostly about criminal laws. Drugs, guns, assault and things like that. The teacher for that worked in the DAs office.
In Poland you have basically 2 "easy" ways of obtaining weapons: Either join the Hunting club or Sports club. For hunting it takes minimum 3 months to a year (to become a hunter or huntress, then the police give you permission for firearms of hunting variety pretty quick) and of course you need a health certificate. Same for sports, though you have to take part in IIRC at least 4 competitions a year for that to be valid. The hard way is to ask for gun for protection. There are more and more of those, but again my statistics might be few years old, but I think there are around 20.000 of those permits issued in whole country. Also you don't need a permit for a gun or replica of a gun that was made before 1850. Though black powder is another issue. You usually have to use something that translates into English as "Firing Cotton". It's Nitrocellulose if memory serves. Obviously if you know people some things become easier.
@@QUIROPTEROHOLLOW Estonia is absolutely lovely, even more lovely than Lithuania, even though I live there. Lithuania is lovely as well, and also has relatively permissive gun laws.
its interesting how after 40 - 50 years of soviet occupation gun laws finally become very reasonable, everything is great, everything works - and then the eu comes and says "nein!".
It seems to be a theme that after a brutal inoculation of bolshevism, people tend to defend their rights, safety, independence, etc. Like how eastern European nations are resisting EU demands.
The government is not required to follow every EU directive. They are 100% accountable if they make it into a law just to help their political maneuvering in the EU parliament.
@@Certio0 if government doesnt comply with a directive, ec tells its "court of justice" to "propose a fine". also, government is accountable for implementing directives forced by the un-accountable? just one more problem i have with the eu.
An additional interesting process in Estonia is that members of the local equivalent of the National Guard (the “Kaitseliit”, literally: Defense League) can take home their fully automatic issued rifle (usually a G3 or Galil) provided they have a safe for it.
@@carlsasau6162 even relative to salary it's not that bad. Average salary there is about 1500 USD per month. But firearms are not a hobby for poor people in any country anyway.
@@RagingShrimp67 Hmm, no their salaries are much lower than that on average. In Tallinn an average would be around 700 Euros a month, and the regional areas you'd be on something closer to 500 Euros a month Not very cheap as a hobby, AKs typically sell around the 500 Euro mark, but VZ58's are fairly high value, they sell around 320 Euros
@@mattholley3642 Incorrect, the average Estonian salary for 1st quarter of 2019 is 1341 euros, according to their official statistics published on stat.ee, news release 65, May 29th 2019. (www.stat.ee/news-release-2019-065). You might be talking about the median salary, but I haven't searched for that.
It’s the same in Estonia. You won’t be shooting a unarmed guy trespassing or trying to break into your house... (such a shame, I know). This law needs to change coz... It would be reasonable to be able to put two rounds straight to the back of he’s head.
I can't shake the feeling that the poor guy was unsure where to look the whole time. :-D Greatly appreciate this little series, thanks for bringing this to us and of course thanks to your interviewees as well.
@@AsbestosMuffins Oh I totally get it. Making that completely unnatural form of conversation *seem* natural takes a lot of practice, it's not meant as a criticism in the slightest. It was just very noticeable at some points that he was trying to figure out where to look, but he did admirably given the situation in my opinion.
Estonians are quite shy by nature. They can seem awkward and nervous by outsiders. This sometimes is seen as cold and sterile by those who don’t understand. They will open up when they get to know you and be excellent and honest friends if you are patient. Above all they dislike superficiality and sentimentality, instead preferring practicality and honesty. And don’t worry, no matter what you do, they will never hate you as much as they hate communists lol.
the public image in Estonia about guns is also rather apprehensive. if you say that you have a gun, people immediately assume that you are either a police /defence forces member or a hunter. if you say you are a sports shooter or have it for self defence, you will probably rise eyebrows and get a lot of questions. in my 31 years of living here i have seen perhaps 2 or 3 times people carrying a gun outside of hunting, or law enforcement. i've also witnessed quite a few potentially dangerous confrontations between police and rowdy people but have not yet seen a gun drawn by a police officer. gun violence is very rare in Estonia. there has been one scool shooting in Estonia in 2014, where a single 15 year old student shot and killed one teacher with his fathers gun, and surrendered without resistance immediately afterwards to school personnell. other shootings are also few and far in between and are usually classified as settling of differences between criminals. even a failed armed robbery attempt where a gunlike object is used to threaten, with noone injured and no shots fired, garners nationwide media attention. With that said, there is no specific anti-gun sentiment also. i've held and fired guns, without being a registered gun owner. my first experience was as a teenager, when a familiar police officer allowed me to handle their service pistol, with no ammo in the gun nor magazine (a makarov, i got to make it go *click* and was surprised how heavy the trigger and slide was). i have also visited a commercial shooting range where unlicenced people can try shooting. first you are thoroughly identified and you sign a document proving that you have went through the short safety and handling instruction with the instructor and the list of guns that you are given access to. there are commonly packets of different guns with a certain (small) amount of rounds that you can buy. and it is commonly one person or one group visiting together and shooting in turns at one time in the range, not a bunch of unrelated people firing in the same room simultaneously. i had a packet of a revolver, some standard 9mm pistol, a silenced 22 pistol, a 12g pump action and an ar-15 type semi auto that had been converted to 22 and malfunctioned with every third shot. i've also visited a number of defence forces displays where you can handle all sorts of their weaponry without ammo. there is also a compulsory military service of 9 months, nominally to all male healthy sitizens and women can volunteer, but in reality they get to cherry pick, since they take on a finite number of people every year, so it doesn't take much to sidestep it if you really do not want to go. in my year they had so many volunteers that i basically got off with no viable excuse. but with that, and the addition of a fairly large volunteer defence league, that operates as a reserve to the defence force, and is supplied and trained by the state, there are a substantial number of people who have a licenced gun or at least have proper training and experience with guns.
Couple of corrections - first off, the military service is either 8 months (for most jobs) or 11 months (for NCOs, drivers and a handful of other jobs). Secondly, these days they're trying to increase the numbers quite a bit - meaning that they won't cherry pick as much (we even had an autist for a driver, he was socially so inept he should have never been in any military and his driving didn't make us feel safe either). This has nothing to do with gun laws, of course, but as a very recent reservist I felt compelled to correct these.
@@Neomalthusiano no significant restriction regarding what is classifiable as small arms calibre. Any restrictions typically relate to special purpose munitions such as incendiary or armor piercing rounds and things of that nature.
Oh no... guns are rare in Estonia. Easy to get but rare to see someone actually going and spending he’s money on it. We are mostly more into cars. And Russians, they don’t scare us at all. Old comrades after all... we know their strengths and weaknesses. With Russians, you don’t fight with guns. Instead you go with a bottle of vodka and a jar of sour cucumbers and maybe some sausage would do. Once they see you coming, guns will be dropping and smiles will be popping. You effectively won the war.
We can't have hollowpoints, and the concealed carry with an empty chamber is something that no cop can relly enforce so most of us who carry have one in the chamber.
@tvercetti1 They're not allowed to used hollow-points, genius. Would you prefer a larger hole or a smaller hole, given that pistol rounds kill exclusively through perforating vital organs and exsanguination, keeping in mind the importance of avoiding overpenetration? In the states, .45 is somewhat outdated since hollowpoints in 9mm and other smaller calibers are pretty effective now. But in a situation where you weren't allowed to use JHP rounds, a larger diameter bullet like .45 is objectively more effective, something proven by the wave of larger caliber weapons adopted at the turn of the century and in the world war era, the consistent complaints about military 9mm FMJ ammo lacking quick killing potential, and the continued presence of the .45 in portions of the Armed Forces where they're allowed to pick their own pistols. Did you think that through before replying to me? I'm betting you didn't.
@tvercetti1 Yes, because the human body tends to move around a bit and can stretch and shift. We're not made of plywood, dude. I'm sure the entry and exit holes look pretty close in size. I'm also sure that doesn't invalidate the fact that 11.43mm is bigger than 9mm. If your goal is to perforate something vital and extenuate bleeding without over penetration, pick a hollow point. If you can't do that, bigger is better. .45 caliber Webleys were far more effective than the smaller caliber versions. The 45 caliber weapons in the US arsenal were much better than 38 special revolvers they had previously used. Many many operators in the US military have complained about the lack of power in Nato FMJ 9MM and carried and continued to carry .45s if they're allowed. These are facts.
I see some similarities to Polish law. The best way to have a firearm in Poland, sign up for a sports club and be a collector at the same time. You must be at least 21 years old (in exceptional situations 18). Theoretical exam in law, security, types of weapons. Practical examination, psychological and psychiatric examinations, background check by the police. A safe where you need to store a weapon, if you have more than 30 weapons, you must have a safe room like in Estonia. You can also carry weapons on a daily basis with the same limitations as in Estonia. Each piece of weapons is registered, and from time to time, the police control your weapon. The maximum caliber that you can have for these two types of permit is 12mm, you can not have automatic weapons (you can have it for training permission, difficult to get). Also in Poland after years of communism there was no culture of possessing weapons, in 2011 access to weapons has been simplified, by political partie whose politician Elżbieta Bieńkowska, was later the face of EU directives restricting access to weapons... Polish law and the history of access to weapons is very strange, in the details you could record a few episodes about it.
Thank you, very interesting video. When he said Estonia's very small, I looked up the population... it's actually not far off from the population here in Idaho!
I'm sure that it has been mentioned but I'm too lazy to scroll - if you're a member of Defense League, you are actively encouraged by them to hold your battle rifle at home (AK4 or Galil, and now R-20 RAHE is starting to come in), with a good amount of ammunition AND they provide a gun safe free of charge- you'll just have to bolt it in, as it will be examined. ALSO, you can have bunch of weapons after that and have them under your Defense League gun license without any trouble from police, as DL will keep track of them.
Unfortunately, the EU seems to be targeting member nations, and even non-member nations, that have relatively "relaxed" gun restrictions. Switzerland just passed some harsher restrictions under threat of trade laws from the EU, and it sounds like they're also going after the Czech Republic. Specifically, they're saying they won't allow seamless travel to, from, and through those nations without a passport. Not sure how serious that is, but Switzerland didn't seem to debate it a lot before passing those laws, even though they don't really have a lot of problems there.
I know, it is sad that my daughter and my son in law own NO GUNS AT ALL despite having means and living in Tallinn, I recall visiting a gun store inside Roc Al Mare ( across from the ZOO) shopping mall, quite a nice one, decent selection...
Ian, this was a great video! It is always interesting learning about other countries laws as I believe, it will make us much more appreciative of our Constitutional rights to keep and bear arms and perhaps., arise a fire among others that we are one election away of losing those rights!
"Very few people out there have any prior knowledge ... that Estonia even exists". Now now don't drag the rest of the world down with you. We don't expect the average American to know much about European nations, for which I blame the educational system and not the Americans themselves, but us Europeans sure know about Estonia. Interesting video though, as always.
Yes, congratulations, now please list all 50 states off the top of your head. I'm willing to bet that the average American will do far better than you. Americans have far less reason to know European geography than you do, just the same as you don't have much reason to learn theirs very well.
@@wurfyy But he didn't say "Very few Americans..", he said "Very few people..". Which is why I was giving him a hard time. It's an obvious joke and you getting upset on some US high horse about it if anything is more of an insult to the average American that my comment ever was. So please stop being a stereotype. Additionally I would consider it a safe bet that the average European knows more about the US than vice versa. But as I said I blame the education system, not the American citizen.
@@wurfyy Your argument is invalid. Here is why: you are, just like many other people incorrecly comparing USA (federation) to the EU (confederation sui generis, pricy socialist mess.. kind of) or Europe (continent). It is not the same. Germany is federation, Russia is federation, etc. But still imho "average adult european" probably knows more % of european states or just states from different continents and their locations then "average american adult" knows about US states or states on both Americas or World. For myself, I can straight from my head name and point all US states and ter., all provinces and ter. of Canada, same for Australia, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, majority of Russia, India, Switzerland, etc.
I have looked into the guns laws myself but this was an excellent summary of everything about guns here. Became interested in guns turning my time in the army and wouldnt mind having a .22 revolver. It is always good to see Estonia get noticed from time to time tho, since so much on the internet revolves around United States and Co.
Estonian has some hard to find mosin nagant parts that i have ordered from there at great prices. I always wondered why and what there laws where and now i no the answers for both questions i had. Thank you 😁
I was glad to see that Ian brought the point up about these laws being subjective in part in this video. The answer that was given was a very good example of how good people allow bad laws to get passed because there might be no problem with the police making these decisions today but as time marches on the law stays the same and there may come a time that it does become a problem but since it was already written into law there is nothing we can do about it. That is why we have to ensure that subjective portions like this are not allowed to be created in the first place. On a different subject, I think the guest mic was turned up too much because every time he used the letter S there was a very loud and annoying whistle instead so that I had to turn the volume down so low that I could barely hear Ian. Anyone else have that problem?
Despite stereotypes, in the USSR in times of Stalin and early Khrushchev you could buy a shotgun or a 22lr rifle in a regular sport shop near you without any papers at all and any other rifle, including semi-auto, if you are a member of a hunting club (and that was also easy).
While I don't support the type of restrictions they have in Estonia, Malta, Switzerland, etc., they do seem to attempt to address the perceived problems and are in that sense logical (namely, they are more concerned with qualifying the user for a given type than they are outright banning that type). It illustrates how disingenuous proposed and implemented restrictions in the US really are.
My experiences in Estonia bringing guns was very similar. I was there for IPSC and they really didn’t care what I did with my stuff. Ammo was relativity cheap.
Hey Ian, it looks like it might be worth crowd funding a comprehensive series on the gun laws and how they work in practice around the world. Since you are quite busy maybe find some other channels that you could collaborate on it. Some longer in depth videos on the history of how those gun laws came to be what they are might also be an interesting angle and a useful resource.
You know, I used to give Americans shit for that (proper European that I am). But given the scale of the matter, I've found that it's much more appropriate to imagine the EU on the level of the US and the EU member states on the level of the federal states. Do I know where Vermont is on a map? Hell no. I know the big ones of course, Texas, California, etc. But the small states? Count me out...and the entire midwest might as well say "Here be dragons" on the map as far as I'm concerned, just a bunch of identical rectangles. :-D
hey, nice one. there are some law regarding old firearms, i do not remember the year, but older guns must be registered, but do not need permit, even the registration of these firearms is new law and is currently in progress of implementing. In hunting there are some strict rules with restricting magazine sizes also. these were first things that popped in my head when watching this very accurate video.
You can also own machine guns if you are a member of the Estonian defense league. You can be in EDL if you have finished your military service, which is compulsory.
Possibly the best european accent ever. Less superficially, I truly enjoy how considerate some people are (even though it is in their interest to learn english in order to understand anglo-american culture, society, news, and connections, while participating in a time of collective education (with both being contributory factors in interconnectivity (i.e behavior & lingua franca(s)). It’s so nice to see a reasonable and balanced american host and a reasonable european, foreigner, or whatever. Also, if your registered-especially in a smaller nation-you should be allowed to carry. If you think about it-what’s the difference of owning a small g and having it at home and (as long as you’re not flaunting it in public or menacing..obviously) carrying it in public. Your a “free person” + what is the difference between the consequences if you consequently “lose it” (at home v. otherwise) + consider the fact carrying hold a greater potential of stopping someone who has “lost it”. Thank you for your effort and your work. You are awesome.
In Austria we can buy a kat. C/D weapon with 18 years, that mean you can buy a repeater or a shotgun with 18. You can buy endless. To buy a semiauto gun or a gun wich is under a limited barrel lenght. When you want to have a Kat.B weapon, you need the WBK(Waffenbesitzkarte). You can make it with 21 Years. Its a license. To have full Automatic weapons: You need also a License, but its realy hard to get it.
@@stonegraysky1311 You mean not allowed? Sorry for ny english. Yes, in the 80's some idiots shot some people with pumpguns. Since them Shotguns a Kat. A., that mean War relicts like a Maschinegun or full auto wepons. Funny is, that semi-auto shotguns are allowed, but they are kat. B and you need the WBK
Can you do it state by state? Us that is.That could get you alot of content. You can even draw in people who arnt concerned with history once they Finnish their specific state. It'll help alot of people. They trust you.
Can't quite agree since I have gone through getting a pistol licence in Estonia and it's a pain especially if you aren't a collector. 1. there are different type of licence: collectors, hunter, sport, civil. Those have restrictions what you can own and how much ammo you can have in your property. 2. You are not allowed to modify you're weapon without a permission from the police (bay 30€ and it's not 30$). 3. You must have a clear record and be fully healthy (mentally and physically) a physical disability may be a no go 4. More than 1 guns and you must have a weapon locker and they will/might come a check it. There are more but lets not get to details.
Ignoring all the other nonsense, automatically being able to carry if you can legally own a firearm just makes sense. If you’re going to do harm, a permission slip isn’t going to stop you.
But Estonia wouldn't issue permit in first place. Hence regular health certificates and background checks to reissue. Any hint one is going to be danger and the permits get revoked.
Great video but it left me wondering about the laws regarding semi-auto long-arms and handguns. Like how does one go about getting the permit for handguns and semi-auto long-arms.
Yeah. Most people just don’t care about guns too much in Estonia. Probably because we are not allowed to shoot others people. So we rather spend our gun money on violent video games. Better fun
I think there are some things left to say. For example, is there any difference between buying a .38 revolver for target shooting and a shotgun for hunting other than the 21 age requirement?
In Estonia, shooting ranges in schools are not that rare, my school had one, and if you are apart of the Young Eagles (Noored Kotkad, a estonian paramilitary group for young teen boys, for girls there is Home Daughters) or then Home Daughters, then it's common to go to a shooting practice at your local military base once a week or month depending where you live and be able to shoot the previous Estonian Defence League main service weapon AK-4 or the Galil, and if you are lucky then even other types of weapons.
Switzerland, quick summary: CCW you can forget as a normal citizen Since 2008 all weapon transactions are registered. Any citizen or foreign long term resident (exceptions exist though for certain nationalities) with a clean police record has the right to buy as many semi-autos (and repeating rifles as well) as he has cash for and ammo (no limit on quantity and caliber, no HP for handguns, no steel/iron core, no AP/API, tracers ok). No specific storage requirements, except for full-auto (bolt has to be stored separately from the rest of the firearm). Full-auto, silencers, lasers for aiming, grenade launchers are 'forbidden' items and can be owned with a may issue licence. Shooting a full-auto firearm requires an additional time limited shooting permit (not required for silencers). I will not go into mag capacity restriction, they are coming August 15, final version of the implementation rules not yet available.
Some European countries allow collectors to own machine guns but they are not allowed to shoot them. In the Malta video the question was asked and the answer was no you can't fire the machine guns in your collection. The question of whether Estonian collectors can actually fire full auto weapons in their collections was not asked. I would be interested to know the answer.
As a local, my understanding based of the laws is: a hard NO. The guns in your collection must be kept in locked cases at all times, and one needs a special permit to exhibit them outside the approved premises. Also one cannot carry them. Bringing one anywhere alone is breaking the regulation of either 'carrying' or ' exhibiting' or both, shooting one for any purpose also constitutes 'using a gun prohibited for civilian use'. Also one cannot collect any guns or ammo at or beyond .50 cal BMG or any special effects ammo (explosive, incendiary, tracer, AP etc) or integrally suppressed guns. Therefore, i think that gun laws still need relaxing in Estonia. Yes, it is nice that a gun licence also allows one to carry concealed, get a suppressor and a laser sight for it, but in reality concealed carry is mandatory if wanting to carry at all. No open carry option, people get really nervous when seeing guns. Its not like "oh, he has an axe, probably going to chop some wood at some point during the day." Or anything resembling guns (like carrying a crudely-painted wooden similie of an AK prompted a curious reaction some 15y ago). Also, getting a fully decked out AR15 for 'home defense' or IPSC is fun, but would still want 50BMG for collecting and also special permits to shoot guns in collection, otherwise, what's the point.
Which is not an issue at all in the UK. There is a large variety of firearms you can own in the UK with very little paperwork and restrictions outside of caliber.
@@DerLoladin are you sure you know what you're talking about? Very little paperwork? The paperwork is the least of it. And it's all managed by regional police forces anyway.
“That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there.” ― George Orwell
Gunner Asch _____ Orwell made that statement in a speech about the Home Guard (Britain's volunteer defence force during WW2). It was a call to arms during a war. Nothing to do with civilian gun ownership during peace-time.
@@deldia Yes, I do. Any British citizen of legal age can get the necessary paperwork done to apply for a firearms license for no other reason other than leisure. Your point was never about who manages it, you solely stated that there is nothing wrong with a british citizen wanting to have a firearm for some shooting - and british firearms laws agree.
As a fellow Balt, I can say that is the most Estonian guy possible.
Never seen Estonian before who speaks English with Finnish accent. Strange, because usually Estonian doesn't sound as ugly as Finnish and their accents when speaking foreign languages reflect that.
Maybe he just has shot too many guns or something like that.
@@tiihtu2507 yeah, I did notice his accent was similar to that of Finns.
I find both accents very cute, by the way.
Doubt it, he didn't mention the two dog statues.
Tiuhtukkainen , as soon as guy started to speak I thoght this guy has to be Finnish.
He is 100% a Finn living in Estonia. Nothing wrong about it, just he is not Estonian.
I can understand why americans might be sceptical of a trust based relationships with the government. Thing is, with Estonia being so small, it is much easier to hold people accountable both in public and private sectors. Also with our history we are much more concerned with external threats to freedom rather than expecting tyranny from our own authorities.
Very true. A lot of people from both sides of the pond forget that the United States is larger in size than the European Union. If the entire nation was the size of say, New York, I dont think any Americans would have a problem with a trust based system like Estonia.
Estonia's government is small and doesn't control much, too. That's a key factor.
I think you've pointed out something very important. Most of the countries with very liberal gun laws are relatively small. Bigger countries tend to have more restrictive gun laws.
Trust doesn't scale.
Very true. Americans have very little trust in their government overall. Hell, I barely trust my state government to do anything intelligently. Glad you guys can trust yours.
@@hawkticus_history_corner grass is always greener on the other side im afraid. Politics are still politics.
One thing that wasnt mentioned in this video is the Estonian Defence League - a paramilitary organization linked with the Estonian Defence Forces, if you are a member of it you could in fact hold an automatic battle rifle in your home. There are some requirements to keeping a gun at home - having a safe.
@@fillosof66689 Link about what EDL actually is: www.kaitseliit.ee/en/edl
@@fillosof66689 Active members have to be Estonian citizens. While Estonia has conscription not everyone is selected for service so the EDL is another way to serve for those willing to defend their country. It is also a way for those of us who gained citizenship late in life being born overseas to serve.
Nicholas van Rijn They are more considered to be the first reaction force. Actual military reserves are those who have had served in the army, as everyone who does is counted as reservists after their 8-11 month conscript duty
Huh, so their militia force can own weapons like that? A militia that many would consider to be...well regulated?
What an interesting and intriguing concept
Sebastien Hardinger I think it is equated to the US National Guard in Estonia.
Also, very well regulated, new chief of the estonian defence league is the former chief of special forces
Honey, sorry, I’m moving out. I’m buying my 9th gun and moving into my apartment that’s been converted to a safe.
I think he meant a larger vault (vault room).
Exactly, it just needs to be a vault room. Works similar where I'm from.
(2 guns/500 rounds don't have specified precautions. Up to 10 guns/10,000 rounds require a heavy duty metal locker, above 10 guns/10k rounds need a proper safe and for more than 20 guns/20,000 rounds, you need a vault room.)
I’m still moving out....
I don't think anything stops someone else using your gun safe. You and your wife (for example) could both get a gun liscence and use the same gun safe. You can have more than nine guns, but the other nine are your wifes
@@Fizbun Wouldn't bet on it. Our law specifies guns per container, not guns per owner, and I bet it works the same in Estonia, since this would be a really obvious loophole and it would kinda defeat the whole purpose of this regulation.
Hey Ian, time to do Czech Republic!
Yes!!! :) And btw visit N-S 82 bunker for L1 gun :) :D
Agreed. Out projectile weapon law is one of the few czech laws that is genuinely well written and people need to know :D
Also switzerland. Altho kinda hard to do right now because it is changing to EU conform laws in a month and very hard to tell, even for us, how restrictive or liberal it will be implemented.
Doesn't Czechia want to be called Czechia?
@@oktayyildirim2911 It makes sense to make a direct translation of the word "Česko" and most people go along with it and use it, but "Czech republic" is still very much the official name.
Many people, myself included, think "Czechia" sounds really dumb. But I suspect we'll get used to it eventually.
Thank you for having interviewed this fine and interesting gentleman!
I really love Estonia. I spent many hours watching the Laulupidu Song Festival just days ago. Watch it here on youtube, amazing! Such a fine People. Greetings from Germany.
Finnally, an Estonian firearm law video, sweet!
Genuinely didn't expect a video about gun laws in my country. Have to admit it was pleasantly surprising to see.
Same, my eyes went wide when I saw this
Ian, thanks for the time and effort in posting these videos. It's interesting to see that contrary to popular belief, that many other countries DO allow citizens some form of gun ownership.
Despite the condition 3 carry requirement, it seems that Estonia allows carrying for self defense. Unusual for many of these countries.
One recommendation: come up with a standardized format so each video has commonality with the rest.
1.) is gun ownership allowed?
2.) what hoops do you have to jump through?
3.) What and how many are you allowed?
4.) can you use a firearm for self defense? can you carry?
etc.
Not unusual at all. Estonia has rich history of strife with its neighbors *cough* Russia *cough*. The nation is very advanced, progressive, and independent minded through necessity and historical reasons.
Yeah, question four is important, and often an eye-opener. Like that whole, shoot an attacking dog, have all firearms ownership privelages removed, shoot a rapist go to prison for murder rap one country had.
You can use a firearm for self defense in Estonia but there are rules for it. Basically the assailant has to be armed with a deadly weapon and you have to do everything in your power to avoid deadly force. Normally it would go this way:1) Verbal warning 2) A warning shot in a safe direction 3) Shooting the assailant. If it is possible you should only wound them. Exception is if the threat is so imminent that you have to discharge your weapon immediately. I know of a one instance where a off duty police officer went to jail because they didn't make the warning shot in a safe way and injured a innocent bystander. Thet went to jail for 5 years. Each shooting is investigated. Also at least the males in Estonia attend a National Defence class in high school and learn gun safety and how to attain it and some legalities that go with it. For example I learned how to disassemble and assemble an AKM type asssault rifle in school. My National Defence class teacher actually racked a live round into a chamber of a CZ-75 pistol in the classroom when showing gun safety steps. You never forget such a thing. The teachers that give that class are military personnel. Usually they are in the Defence League. We also had a class about laws. I think it was mostly about criminal laws. Drugs, guns, assault and things like that. The teacher for that worked in the DAs office.
Ian, you should add Estonia's most popular export, Vana Tallinn, to the list for your next intentional cocktail day.
I now have three countries that I would be interested in Moving to if the United States is not an option. Poland, Czech Republic, and now Estonia.
Estonia seems like a wonderful country overall
In Poland you have basically 2 "easy" ways of obtaining weapons: Either join the Hunting club or Sports club. For hunting it takes minimum 3 months to a year (to become a hunter or huntress, then the police give you permission for firearms of hunting variety pretty quick) and of course you need a health certificate. Same for sports, though you have to take part in IIRC at least 4 competitions a year for that to be valid. The hard way is to ask for gun for protection. There are more and more of those, but again my statistics might be few years old, but I think there are around 20.000 of those permits issued in whole country. Also you don't need a permit for a gun or replica of a gun that was made before 1850. Though black powder is another issue. You usually have to use something that translates into English as "Firing Cotton". It's Nitrocellulose if memory serves. Obviously if you know people some things become easier.
@@QUIROPTEROHOLLOW Estonia is absolutely lovely, even more lovely than Lithuania, even though I live there.
Lithuania is lovely as well, and also has relatively permissive gun laws.
From this video, it doesn't seem too out of the ordinary.
Switzerland and Lichtenstein are also great choices, my friend.
its interesting how after 40 - 50 years of soviet occupation gun laws finally become very reasonable, everything is great, everything works - and then the eu comes and says "nein!".
It seems to be a theme that after a brutal inoculation of bolshevism, people tend to defend their rights, safety, independence, etc. Like how eastern European nations are resisting EU demands.
The government is not required to follow every EU directive. They are 100% accountable if they make it into a law just to help their political maneuvering in the EU parliament.
@@Certio0 if government doesnt comply with a directive, ec tells its "court of justice" to "propose a fine".
also, government is accountable for implementing directives forced by the un-accountable? just one more problem i have with the eu.
An additional interesting process in Estonia is that members of the local equivalent of the National Guard (the “Kaitseliit”, literally: Defense League) can take home their fully automatic issued rifle (usually a G3 or Galil) provided they have a safe for it.
I think they can also take their carry pistol to home also (the USP 9mm)
And if you really want you can register old SMGs (MP40, PPSh) for example on your national guard or army weapon license.
@@kaurkoor804 oh boy, mandatory military service doesn't seem so bad anymore!
Soon to be if not already the LMT R20.
$60 to register to own and carry concealed. Thats better than here in Louisiana.
Their salaries by far are not...
@@carlsasau6162 even relative to salary it's not that bad. Average salary there is about 1500 USD per month. But firearms are not a hobby for poor people in any country anyway.
@@RagingShrimp67 Hmm, no their salaries are much lower than that on average. In Tallinn an average would be around 700 Euros a month, and the regional areas you'd be on something closer to 500 Euros a month
Not very cheap as a hobby, AKs typically sell around the 500 Euro mark, but VZ58's are fairly high value, they sell around 320 Euros
cost of inflation is lower and Estonia has a better education system than Louisana
@@mattholley3642 Incorrect, the average Estonian salary for 1st quarter of 2019 is 1341 euros, according to their official statistics published on stat.ee, news release 65, May 29th 2019. (www.stat.ee/news-release-2019-065). You might be talking about the median salary, but I haven't searched for that.
In Finland, 90 € which is about 100 dollars to apply for a permit, but you are not allowed to defend yourself with it in 99 percent of situations.
Can i use it as a club?
Can you elaborate the "not allowed to defend" part?
@@juliusEST Firing a gun is usually seen as an excess use of force. You would basically have to be fired at in order to justify firing your gun.
It’s the same in Estonia. You won’t be shooting a unarmed guy trespassing or trying to break into your house... (such a shame, I know).
This law needs to change coz... It would be reasonable to be able to put two rounds straight to the back of he’s head.
Estonia is a small country, but one of the best in the world.
there are few things i dont like there , but in all , yes i can agree
Agreed, I moved here from the UK almost 4 years ago and never looked back.
I do agree that its a great country
I can't shake the feeling that the poor guy was unsure where to look the whole time. :-D
Greatly appreciate this little series, thanks for bringing this to us and of course thanks to your interviewees as well.
talking to a camera while talking with a guy next to you is awkward especially since they can't turn to see each other
@@AsbestosMuffins Oh I totally get it. Making that completely unnatural form of conversation *seem* natural takes a lot of practice, it's not meant as a criticism in the slightest. It was just very noticeable at some points that he was trying to figure out where to look, but he did admirably given the situation in my opinion.
And his English might not be that good. He thinks quite a bit before he speak things.
Estonians are quite shy by nature. They can seem awkward and nervous by outsiders. This sometimes is seen as cold and sterile by those who don’t understand. They will open up when they get to know you and be excellent and honest friends if you are patient. Above all they dislike superficiality and sentimentality, instead preferring practicality and honesty. And don’t worry, no matter what you do, they will never hate you as much as they hate communists lol.
Hey Ian, keep up the Gun Law videos whenever you get the opportunity. They are really interesting and informative.
Very well presented video. Special thanks to Estonian collector :) Who is very informative to the cause regarding Estonia gunlaws.
This is video, what I haven't even dreamed of. I was planning to get some guns after my service in EDF.
Ian, Estonian Defense Forces loves you!
What an interesting series. It’s always very cool to see these videos.
Mom: Estonia isn't real.
Estonia:
the public image in Estonia about guns is also rather apprehensive. if you say that you have a gun, people immediately assume that you are either a police /defence forces member or a hunter. if you say you are a sports shooter or have it for self defence, you will probably rise eyebrows and get a lot of questions. in my 31 years of living here i have seen perhaps 2 or 3 times people carrying a gun outside of hunting, or law enforcement. i've also witnessed quite a few potentially dangerous confrontations between police and rowdy people but have not yet seen a gun drawn by a police officer. gun violence is very rare in Estonia. there has been one scool shooting in Estonia in 2014, where a single 15 year old student shot and killed one teacher with his fathers gun, and surrendered without resistance immediately afterwards to school personnell. other shootings are also few and far in between and are usually classified as settling of differences between criminals. even a failed armed robbery attempt where a gunlike object is used to threaten, with noone injured and no shots fired, garners nationwide media attention.
With that said, there is no specific anti-gun sentiment also. i've held and fired guns, without being a registered gun owner. my first experience was as a teenager, when a familiar police officer allowed me to handle their service pistol, with no ammo in the gun nor magazine (a makarov, i got to make it go *click* and was surprised how heavy the trigger and slide was). i have also visited a commercial shooting range where unlicenced people can try shooting. first you are thoroughly identified and you sign a document proving that you have went through the short safety and handling instruction with the instructor and the list of guns that you are given access to. there are commonly packets of different guns with a certain (small) amount of rounds that you can buy. and it is commonly one person or one group visiting together and shooting in turns at one time in the range, not a bunch of unrelated people firing in the same room simultaneously. i had a packet of a revolver, some standard 9mm pistol, a silenced 22 pistol, a 12g pump action and an ar-15 type semi auto that had been converted to 22 and malfunctioned with every third shot. i've also visited a number of defence forces displays where you can handle all sorts of their weaponry without ammo. there is also a compulsory military service of 9 months, nominally to all male healthy sitizens and women can volunteer, but in reality they get to cherry pick, since they take on a finite number of people every year, so it doesn't take much to sidestep it if you really do not want to go. in my year they had so many volunteers that i basically got off with no viable excuse. but with that, and the addition of a fairly large volunteer defence league, that operates as a reserve to the defence force, and is supplied and trained by the state, there are a substantial number of people who have a licenced gun or at least have proper training and experience with guns.
Couple of corrections - first off, the military service is either 8 months (for most jobs) or 11 months (for NCOs, drivers and a handful of other jobs). Secondly, these days they're trying to increase the numbers quite a bit - meaning that they won't cherry pick as much (we even had an autist for a driver, he was socially so inept he should have never been in any military and his driving didn't make us feel safe either).
This has nothing to do with gun laws, of course, but as a very recent reservist I felt compelled to correct these.
What about calibers? Is there any restriction?
@@Neomalthusiano no significant restriction regarding what is classifiable as small arms calibre. Any restrictions typically relate to special purpose munitions such as incendiary or armor piercing rounds and things of that nature.
Considering Estonia's neighbor, Russia, I would think they'd allow or even encourage that every citizen have at least one military grade firearm.
They do.
Join the Estonian Defense League (similar to US National Guard) and you can take your issued rifle home.
Oh no... guns are rare in Estonia. Easy to get but rare to see someone actually going and spending he’s money on it.
We are mostly more into cars.
And Russians, they don’t scare us at all. Old comrades after all... we know their strengths and weaknesses.
With Russians, you don’t fight with guns. Instead you go with a bottle of vodka and a jar of sour cucumbers and maybe some sausage would do.
Once they see you coming, guns will be dropping and smiles will be popping. You effectively won the war.
Estonia is one of the coolest countries to read about. Nice to see how it is with gun laws for them too.
We can't have hollowpoints, and the concealed carry with an empty chamber is something that no cop can relly enforce so most of us who carry have one in the chamber.
.45 time, my dude.
@tvercetti1 They're not allowed to used hollow-points, genius. Would you prefer a larger hole or a smaller hole, given that pistol rounds kill exclusively through perforating vital organs and exsanguination, keeping in mind the importance of avoiding overpenetration? In the states, .45 is somewhat outdated since hollowpoints in 9mm and other smaller calibers are pretty effective now. But in a situation where you weren't allowed to use JHP rounds, a larger diameter bullet like .45 is objectively more effective, something proven by the wave of larger caliber weapons adopted at the turn of the century and in the world war era, the consistent complaints about military 9mm FMJ ammo lacking quick killing potential, and the continued presence of the .45 in portions of the Armed Forces where they're allowed to pick their own pistols.
Did you think that through before replying to me? I'm betting you didn't.
@tvercetti1 lol 11.43mm equals 9mm. Sure thing dude.
@tvercetti1 Yes, because the human body tends to move around a bit and can stretch and shift. We're not made of plywood, dude. I'm sure the entry and exit holes look pretty close in size. I'm also sure that doesn't invalidate the fact that 11.43mm is bigger than 9mm. If your goal is to perforate something vital and extenuate bleeding without over penetration, pick a hollow point. If you can't do that, bigger is better. .45 caliber Webleys were far more effective than the smaller caliber versions. The 45 caliber weapons in the US arsenal were much better than 38 special revolvers they had previously used. Many many operators in the US military have complained about the lack of power in Nato FMJ 9MM and carried and continued to carry .45s if they're allowed. These are facts.
If I couldn't carry hollow point ammo, my next choice would be a semi jacketed soft point with a large, flat meplat.
I see some similarities to Polish law. The best way to have a firearm in Poland, sign up for a sports club and be a collector at the same time. You must be at least 21 years old (in exceptional situations 18). Theoretical exam in law, security, types of weapons. Practical examination, psychological and psychiatric examinations, background check by the police. A safe where you need to store a weapon, if you have more than 30 weapons, you must have a safe room like in Estonia. You can also carry weapons on a daily basis with the same limitations as in Estonia. Each piece of weapons is registered, and from time to time, the police control your weapon. The maximum caliber that you can have for these two types of permit is 12mm, you can not have automatic weapons (you can have it for training permission, difficult to get). Also in Poland after years of communism there was no culture of possessing weapons, in 2011 access to weapons has been simplified, by political partie whose politician Elżbieta Bieńkowska, was later the face of EU directives restricting access to weapons... Polish law and the history of access to weapons is very strange, in the details you could record a few episodes about it.
Thank you, very interesting video. When he said Estonia's very small, I looked up the population... it's actually not far off from the population here in Idaho!
Can you do an overview of Polish gun laws as well? Better yet, do a whole series on the gun laws in various countries.
He has a number of videos in the series already, i may be worth checking the play lists.
I'm sure that it has been mentioned but I'm too lazy to scroll - if you're a member of Defense League, you are actively encouraged by them to hold your battle rifle at home (AK4 or Galil, and now R-20 RAHE is starting to come in), with a good amount of ammunition AND they provide a gun safe free of charge- you'll just have to bolt it in, as it will be examined. ALSO, you can have bunch of weapons after that and have them under your Defense League gun license without any trouble from police, as DL will keep track of them.
Something about this video kinda feels like a cold war interrogation...
I mean that in a good way.
i love these videos. this is the type of content you can't get anywhere else.
Unfortunately, the EU seems to be targeting member nations, and even non-member nations, that have relatively "relaxed" gun restrictions. Switzerland just passed some harsher restrictions under threat of trade laws from the EU, and it sounds like they're also going after the Czech Republic. Specifically, they're saying they won't allow seamless travel to, from, and through those nations without a passport. Not sure how serious that is, but Switzerland didn't seem to debate it a lot before passing those laws, even though they don't really have a lot of problems there.
I know, it is sad that my daughter and my son in law own NO GUNS AT ALL despite having means and living in Tallinn, I recall visiting a gun store inside Roc Al Mare ( across from the ZOO) shopping mall, quite a nice one, decent selection...
That’s Jahipaun I believe, where most of mine have come from.
Ian, this was a great video! It is always interesting learning about other countries laws as I believe, it will make us much more appreciative of our Constitutional rights to keep and bear arms and perhaps., arise a fire among others that we are one election away of losing those rights!
"Very few people out there have any prior knowledge ... that Estonia even exists".
Now now don't drag the rest of the world down with you. We don't expect the average American to know much about European nations, for which I blame the educational system and not the Americans themselves, but us Europeans sure know about Estonia.
Interesting video though, as always.
Yes, congratulations, now please list all 50 states off the top of your head. I'm willing to bet that the average American will do far better than you.
Americans have far less reason to know European geography than you do, just the same as you don't have much reason to learn theirs very well.
@@wurfyy But he didn't say "Very few Americans..", he said "Very few people..". Which is why I was giving him a hard time.
It's an obvious joke and you getting upset on some US high horse about it if anything is more of an insult to the average American that my comment ever was. So please stop being a stereotype.
Additionally I would consider it a safe bet that the average European knows more about the US than vice versa. But as I said I blame the education system, not the American citizen.
@@wurfyy Your argument is invalid. Here is why: you are, just like many other people incorrecly comparing USA (federation) to the EU (confederation sui generis, pricy socialist mess.. kind of) or Europe (continent). It is not the same. Germany is federation, Russia is federation, etc. But still imho "average adult european" probably knows more % of european states or just states from different continents and their locations then "average american adult" knows about US states or states on both Americas or World.
For myself, I can straight from my head name and point all US states and ter., all provinces and ter. of Canada, same for Australia, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, majority of Russia, India, Switzerland, etc.
I have looked into the guns laws myself but this was an excellent summary of everything about guns here. Became interested in guns turning my time in the army and wouldnt mind having a .22 revolver. It is always good to see Estonia get noticed from time to time tho, since so much on the internet revolves around United States and Co.
Amazing. Thanks for the video. This is just the kind of obscure information that is going to make me sign up on your patreon right now.
Ian You found a "Gringo" to talk about gunlaws in " Finnish Mexico".
Wow, those laws are surprisingly generous for Europe. This series has been informative and enjoyable thus far.
Estonian has some hard to find mosin nagant parts that i have ordered from there at great prices. I always wondered why and what there laws where and now i no the answers for both questions i had. Thank you 😁
i wonder how many estonians are watching this
well i'm estonian so that's one
Mihkel Remmelgas Both of you.
2
+
+
tervist
Thank you for this presentation. This sharing of knowledge other countries gun laws on gun ownership is valuable.
I'm actually traveling to Estonia tomorrow!
I love this video series, very informative. It also makes me realize how good we have things in the states, even with our current infringements.
he looks like the guy who runs the spelling bee
Thank you for this nourishment, my gun video vixen
You know a vixen is a female fox, right?
I was glad to see that Ian brought the point up about these laws being subjective in part in this video. The answer that was given was a very good example of how good people allow bad laws to get passed because there might be no problem with the police making these decisions today but as time marches on the law stays the same and there may come a time that it does become a problem but since it was already written into law there is nothing we can do about it. That is why we have to ensure that subjective portions like this are not allowed to be created in the first place. On a different subject, I think the guest mic was turned up too much because every time he used the letter S there was a very loud and annoying whistle instead so that I had to turn the volume down so low that I could barely hear Ian. Anyone else have that problem?
Soviets?! Preventing a subjected peoples from owning firearms?! I've never heard of such nonsense!
Conficsating civilian guns is one of the things the reds did, than they strarted a genocide of the productive parts of society.
Despite stereotypes, in the USSR in times of Stalin and early Khrushchev you could buy a shotgun or a 22lr rifle in a regular sport shop near you without any papers at all and any other rifle, including semi-auto, if you are a member of a hunting club (and that was also easy).
In Soviet Union, police had no guns... so of course civilians were not allowed to have one either
Ive always wanted to visit estonia.
I like these videos Ian. Keep em coming if you can
While I don't support the type of restrictions they have in Estonia, Malta, Switzerland, etc., they do seem to attempt to address the perceived problems and are in that sense logical (namely, they are more concerned with qualifying the user for a given type than they are outright banning that type). It illustrates how disingenuous proposed and implemented restrictions in the US really are.
My experiences in Estonia bringing guns was very similar. I was there for IPSC and they really didn’t care what I did with my stuff. Ammo was relativity cheap.
Gunnies:
Forgotten Weapons: ESTONIAN GUN LAWS
Gunnies: Watches
Ian’s looking sharp in the waistcoat. This was really fascinating to hear about
Great videos Ian, keep more comming.
Estonia has great laws. Good luck, from Ukraine.
Hey Ian, it looks like it might be worth crowd funding a comprehensive series on the gun laws and how they work in practice around the world. Since you are quite busy maybe find some other channels that you could collaborate on it. Some longer in depth videos on the history of how those gun laws came to be what they are might also be an interesting angle and a useful resource.
I love how .22 and 12 gauge are in the same category
as a typical American, i had to google where Estonian was
You know, I used to give Americans shit for that (proper European that I am). But given the scale of the matter, I've found that it's much more appropriate to imagine the EU on the level of the US and the EU member states on the level of the federal states. Do I know where Vermont is on a map? Hell no. I know the big ones of course, Texas, California, etc. But the small states? Count me out...and the entire midwest might as well say "Here be dragons" on the map as far as I'm concerned, just a bunch of identical rectangles. :-D
Yeah... Estonia is a well kept secret 🤫. Only for the lucky few who get to know about it.
Make one about Latvija, we have it way worse.
Thats it, I'm moving there!
hey, nice one. there are some law regarding old firearms, i do not remember the year, but older guns must be registered, but do not need permit, even the registration of these firearms is new law and is currently in progress of implementing. In hunting there are some strict rules with restricting magazine sizes also. these were first things that popped in my head when watching this very accurate video.
You can also own machine guns if you are a member of the Estonian defense league. You can be in EDL if you have finished your military service, which is compulsory.
I love Estonian gun laws now, thank you Forgotten weapons for teaching me about this nations policy.
Haha, going to bu...COLLECT some guns for my new “COLLECTION”, surely not going to kill sb and run for the Police...(im from Estonia).
@@joosepkaha1687 XD
You should also cover San Marino.
Possibly the best european accent ever.
Less superficially, I truly enjoy how considerate some people are (even though it is in their interest to learn english in order to understand anglo-american culture, society, news, and connections, while participating in a time of collective education (with both being contributory factors in interconnectivity (i.e behavior & lingua franca(s)).
It’s so nice to see a reasonable and balanced american host and a reasonable european, foreigner, or whatever.
Also, if your registered-especially in a smaller nation-you should be allowed to carry. If you think about it-what’s the difference of owning a small g and having it at home and (as long as you’re not flaunting it in public or menacing..obviously) carrying it in public.
Your a “free person” + what is the difference between the consequences if you consequently “lose it” (at home v. otherwise) + consider the fact carrying hold a greater potential of stopping someone who has “lost it”.
Thank you for your effort and your work.
You are awesome.
"Our Firearms,
Who art with Ian"
Hallowed be thy (In) Range
or Ukraine, free bottle of of samohon with every automatic hunting weapon.
In Austria we can buy a kat. C/D weapon with 18 years, that mean you can buy a repeater or a shotgun with 18. You can buy endless.
To buy a semiauto gun or a gun wich is under a limited barrel lenght. When you want to have a Kat.B weapon, you need the WBK(Waffenbesitzkarte). You can make it with 21 Years.
Its a license.
To have full Automatic weapons: You need also a License, but its realy hard to get it.
I read that pump shotguns are prohibited. Why is that?
@@stonegraysky1311 You mean not allowed? Sorry for ny english. Yes, in the 80's some idiots shot some people with pumpguns. Since them Shotguns a Kat. A., that mean War relicts like a Maschinegun or full auto wepons.
Funny is, that semi-auto shotguns are allowed, but they are kat. B and you need the WBK
Im kinda triggered that we dont have good gun laws in poland like estonia has
I am long time sub! And i am Estonian!
Can you do it state by state? Us that is.That could get you alot of content. You can even draw in people who arnt concerned with history once they Finnish their specific state. It'll help alot of people. They trust you.
Still surprising that a majority of the people that watch your videos can't hit that like button.
i live in Estonia a very beautiful country
Can't quite agree since I have gone through getting a pistol licence in Estonia and it's a pain especially if you aren't a collector. 1. there are different type of licence: collectors, hunter, sport, civil. Those have restrictions what you can own and how much ammo you can have in your property. 2. You are not allowed to modify you're weapon without a permission from the police (bay 30€ and it's not 30$). 3. You must have a clear record and be fully healthy (mentally and physically) a
physical disability may be a no go 4. More than 1 guns and you must have a weapon locker and they will/might come a check it. There are more but lets not get to details.
One of the few countries in Europe that allows concealed carry. I have to admire it.
Ignoring all the other nonsense, automatically being able to carry if you can legally own a firearm just makes sense. If you’re going to do harm, a permission slip isn’t going to stop you.
But Estonia wouldn't issue permit in first place. Hence regular health certificates and background checks to reissue. Any hint one is going to be danger and the permits get revoked.
I’m a fan of having full auto for collectors. I wish we had something similar for C&R’s
You should do Australia. I know there are several states here but they’re all fairly similar in the basics thanks to the National Firearms Agreement.
most interesting
Cold vodka, hot chicks and concealed carry. Its like heaven on earth.
Adam Roodog meh... you cannot own anything that is above 9x19mm caliber. So no my favourite .45 ACP
Wipa4 as my mother used to say 'its better than a poke in the eye with a pointy stick'
Dragonstorm dipro cheeky breeky iv damki
@@Wipa4 actually you can't own anything above .50 cal.
Worth a thought that the countries who has Russia as neighbour, have the best gun laws in Europe. Seems they know the value of an armed population
Great video but it left me wondering about the laws regarding semi-auto long-arms and handguns. Like how does one go about getting the permit for handguns and semi-auto long-arms.
Its same as boltaction.
Kaspar Kallin cheers
The really Strange thing is that the are less guns per capita in gun friendly Estonia, than in gun grabbing Germany.
Yeah. Most people just don’t care about guns too much in Estonia. Probably because we are not allowed to shoot others people. So we rather spend our gun money on violent video games. Better fun
damn he sounds more finnish than estonian
Can you make a video on Malaysian gun laws?
I think there are some things left to say. For example, is there any difference between buying a .38 revolver for target shooting and a shotgun for hunting other than the 21 age requirement?
Very interesting. Thanks
Gun Jesus should visit his father's deputy on earth and talk about Vatican City gun laws
It would be a short video.
Heres the awnser:
Only the criminals can have them
1:14 So an America Boy Scout would easily be able to meet that
In Estonia, shooting ranges in schools are not that rare, my school had one, and if you are apart of the Young Eagles (Noored Kotkad, a estonian paramilitary group for young teen boys, for girls there is Home Daughters) or then Home Daughters, then it's common to go to a shooting practice at your local military base once a week or month depending where you live and be able to shoot the previous Estonian Defence League main service weapon AK-4 or the Galil, and if you are lucky then even other types of weapons.
Besides Kerli I know another thing I like about Estonia.
no one on the planet, even in Estonia:
Gun jesus:
These series about gun laws is really good,maybe you could do Spain next
7:58 - Gun Jesus gets BTFO by awesome Estonian gun law
Whoa Ian, nice vest
Is there a video on Swiss gun laws? That one I think is my favorite
Switzerland, quick summary:
CCW you can forget as a normal citizen
Since 2008 all weapon transactions are registered.
Any citizen or foreign long term resident (exceptions exist though for certain nationalities) with a clean police record has the right to buy as many semi-autos (and repeating rifles as well) as he has cash for and ammo (no limit on quantity and caliber, no HP for handguns, no steel/iron core, no AP/API, tracers ok).
No specific storage requirements, except for full-auto (bolt has to be stored separately from the rest of the firearm).
Full-auto, silencers, lasers for aiming, grenade launchers are 'forbidden' items and can be owned with a may issue licence. Shooting a full-auto firearm requires an additional time limited shooting permit (not required for silencers).
I will not go into mag capacity restriction, they are coming August 15, final version of the implementation rules not yet available.
@@doejohn8674 sad
Some European countries allow collectors to own machine guns but they are not allowed to shoot them. In the Malta video the question was asked and the answer was no you can't fire the machine guns in your collection. The question of whether Estonian collectors can actually fire full auto weapons in their collections was not asked. I would be interested to know the answer.
As a local, my understanding based of the laws is: a hard NO. The guns in your collection must be kept in locked cases at all times, and one needs a special permit to exhibit them outside the approved premises. Also one cannot carry them. Bringing one anywhere alone is breaking the regulation of either 'carrying' or ' exhibiting' or both, shooting one for any purpose also constitutes 'using a gun prohibited for civilian use'. Also one cannot collect any guns or ammo at or beyond .50 cal BMG or any special effects ammo (explosive, incendiary, tracer, AP etc) or integrally suppressed guns.
Therefore, i think that gun laws still need relaxing in Estonia. Yes, it is nice that a gun licence also allows one to carry concealed, get a suppressor and a laser sight for it, but in reality concealed carry is mandatory if wanting to carry at all. No open carry option, people get really nervous when seeing guns. Its not like "oh, he has an axe, probably going to chop some wood at some point during the day." Or anything resembling guns (like carrying a crudely-painted wooden similie of an AK prompted a curious reaction some 15y ago). Also, getting a fully decked out AR15 for 'home defense' or IPSC is fun, but would still want 50BMG for collecting and also special permits to shoot guns in collection, otherwise, what's the point.
Just illustrates that the UK went too far in its restrictions. Nothing wrong with a family man or woman with a job wanting a weapon for some shooting.
Which is not an issue at all in the UK. There is a large variety of firearms you can own in the UK with very little paperwork and restrictions outside of caliber.
@@DerLoladin are you sure you know what you're talking about? Very little paperwork? The paperwork is the least of it. And it's all managed by regional police forces anyway.
“That rifle on the wall of the labourer's cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there.”
― George Orwell
Gunner Asch _____ Orwell made that statement in a speech about the Home Guard (Britain's volunteer defence force during WW2). It was a call to arms during a war. Nothing to do with civilian gun ownership during peace-time.
@@deldia Yes, I do. Any British citizen of legal age can get the necessary paperwork done to apply for a firearms license for no other reason other than leisure. Your point was never about who manages it, you solely stated that there is nothing wrong with a british citizen wanting to have a firearm for some shooting - and british firearms laws agree.
Hey Ian are you gonna do a video on Australian Gun Laws?
The first-aid certification requirement is very cool.