Amount of registered weapons in Belgium has significantly increased

According to an advisory and research body of the Flemish Parliament, there are currently 781,419 registered firearms in Belgium. Estimates state that the country is now above the level of that in 2006 when the Arms Act was strengthened.

The number of registered weapons has largely dropped in Belgium over the years. in the 1980s, 16% of Belgian families had a weapon and today they are only 5%. This drop continued after the strengthening of legislation from 2006 where there were 778,585 to 707,869 in 2010. But since then, researchers say they have seen a 10% increase every year. « We have no particular explanation for this increase, except the growing popularity of amateur shooting sports, » said a researcher.

The institute estimates that there are another 100,000 in circulation in addition to the almost 800,000 registered. A new amnesty period is currently underway until the end of the year to have these unregistered guns turned in.