Weapons — Bulgaria

Carrying or holding a firearm in Bulgaria without a Bulgarian authorisation is a crime punishable by two to eight years in prison, and the same article of the Criminal Code covers ammunition, explosives and, the trap for travellers, pyrotechnic articles. Three traps worth knowing. Picking up a firearm, ammunition, explosives or pyrotechnics that you simply found and keeping them without a permit carries the same two to eight years. Handing firearm ammunition to someone who holds no permit to carry the matching firearm is itself an offence at the same level. And a large quantity raises the sentence to three to ten years. The Criminal Code sets these penalties; the permit system itself sits in separate Bulgarian arms legislation that this entry does not cover, so do not read an exemption for any particular item into it. The rules are national, with no local variation and no separate tourist allowance.

Criminal Code (Наказателен кодекс), art. 339, as printed in the Ministry of Justice consolidated text current to State Gazette issue 55 of 16 June 2026; art. 339(1) last amended State Gazette issue 84 of 2023. Acquiring by any means, researching, holding or transferring to another person explosive substances, firearms, chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, ammunition for firearms or pyrotechnic articles without the proper authorisation, art. 339(1): 2 to 8 years' imprisonment. Where the items are in a large quantity, art. 339(2): 3 to 10 years. Alienating or transferring explosive substances, a firearm, a chemical, biological or nuclear weapon or pyrotechnic articles to a person who has no permit to acquire them, art. 339(3): 2 to 8 years. The same penalty applies to alienating or transferring firearm ammunition to a person who has no permit to carry the corresponding firearm, art. 339(4). The penalty under para 1 also applies to a person who, without the corresponding permit, collects found explosive substances, a found firearm, chemical, biological or nuclear weapon, found firearm ammunition or found pyrotechnic articles, art. 339(5). Where the object of the offence is cluster munitions, anti-personnel mines or other articles within the meaning of the Act implementing the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, art. 339(6): 3 to 10 years in the cases under para 1, 5 to 12 years in the cases under para 2, and 3 to 10 years in the cases under paras 3, 4 and 5. Article 339 prescribes imprisonment only; it attaches no fine. The permit regime referred to as "proper authorisation" is set by separate Bulgarian arms legislation, which was not read for this entry and about which nothing is asserted here.

Verified Oct 15, 2026