Weapons — Costa Rica

If you bring hunting or sport guns into Costa Rica you MUST declare them to customs on arrival - officers record the serial numbers in your passport and notify the arms department. You may bring up to four sport or hunting guns plus 500 rounds as duty-free baggage if you can prove you are a tourist, and you must show the guns again when you leave. Nothing here covers self-defence weapons, and an undeclared, unregistered firearm carries three to five years in prison.

Ley 7530 art. 88: three to five years' imprisonment for possessing an unregistered permitted firearm. Art. 88 bis: two to four years for carrying a registered permitted firearm without the required permit, increased by one third if the weapon is unregistered; if the permit merely expired, the penalty is instead a fine of one salario base (₡462,200), doubled on repeat within six months.