Firearms regulation in Taiwan

Taiwan has extremely strict gun control for all persons in the country, though some carveouts used to be made for indigenous Taiwanese persons. Some argue that the strict policy endangers the homeland to potential invasion by mainland China.[1]

Indigenous groups

An unusual feature of Taiwan's gun control scheme is a specific provision for indigenous people, allowing black powder muzzleloader-type single shot rifles for hunting. In recent years, rulings against indigenous groups have further reinforced the restrictions on hunting rifles.[2][3] The indigenous people that are allowed a carve out to the absolute-no-guns policy though are increasingly antagonistic against the mainly Han Taiwanese that are seen as foreign occupiers that restrict the natural right of indigenous peoples of Taiwan to own and use guns for hunting and other purposes.[4]

In 2025, an indigenous member of the New Taipei City Council brought his traditional rifle to a council session as a formal protest against what he considered to be the central government's overly restrictive gun storage laws.[5]

Sporting

There are outdoor shotgun sports ranges in Linkou and Kenting.[6] Two major shooting sports organizations exist, the Taiwan Shooting Sports Association-Ding Fwu and the Chinese Taipei Shooting Association.[7]

Significant Taiwanese sport shooters include Liu Wan-yu,[8] Lin Yi-chun,[9] Lee Meng-yuan,[10][11] and Yang Kum-pi.[12][13]

In 2024, the Taiwanese military rejected a request from the Legislative Yuan to consider establishing public rifle and pistol ranges overseen by the military on legal, safety, and operational grounds.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Mainland China's grip on Taiwan's arsenal seen in 'incredible' security blunder". South China Morning Post. 2023-01-14. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  2. ^ "Taiwan's indigenous groups lose court fight for hunting rights". BBC News. 2021-05-07. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  3. ^ "Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act". Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  4. ^ Winn, Patrick (18 May 2021). "Taiwan's gun control debate". The World.
  5. ^ Hung-kuo, Wang; Mazzetta, Matthew (30 April 2025). "Lawmaker brings rifle to city council to protest new gun storage rules". focustaiwan.tw. Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  6. ^ Ter, Dana (5 August 2015). "Gunning for bull's-eye". taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  7. ^ Minnick, Wendell. "Taiwanese Civilians Have an Answer to Chinese Threats: Paramilitary Groups". nationalinterest.org. National Interest. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  8. ^ Scanlan, Sean (16 January 2024). "Taiwan's Liu Wan-yu wins women's trap shooting Olympic qualifier". taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  9. ^ Nakhiengchanh, Michael (2 July 2024). "Taiwanese sports shooter aims for gold at Paris Olympics". taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  10. ^ "Sharpshooter takes Taiwan into skeet finals for first time". focustaiwan.tw. Focus Taiwan. 3 August 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  11. ^ "Taiwan Olympic shooter Lee tops world rankings". taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times. 25 September 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  12. ^ Chien-chung, Li; Lo, James (12 June 2025). "Taiwanese sharpshooters trap gold at Asian Shotgun Cup". focustaiwan.tw. Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  13. ^ Yun-ju, Huang; Chiao-wen, Huang; Yen-hsiang, Chao (11 April 2025). "Taiwanese duo wins World Cup gold in trap mixed team". focustaiwan.tw. Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  14. ^ Hsu, Medwin (19 July 2024). "Taiwan military rejects public shooting range proposal". taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.