Editing Overview of gun laws by nation (section)

==Vocabulary and terminology==
[[Firearm#Legal definitions|Firearms are not defined the same way]] in each country.

Some terms are used in several countries in the context of gun laws. These include the following:

*''shall-issue'': granting of a required license or permit is subject only to the applicant's meeting determinate criteria laid out in the law; the granting authority has no discretion in the awarding of licenses.
*''may-issue'': granting of a required permit or license is partially at the discretion of local authorities. Some jurisdictions may provide administrative and legal avenues for an applicant to appeal a permit denial, while others may not.
*''no-issue'': granting of a required permit or license is forbidden, or, at most, allowed only in certain very limited circumstances.

Gun laws might be classified by countries according to some specific common characteristics:
* [[Gun law in Yemen|Yemen]] does not require any permit or any license for the acquisition or selling of any types of firearms, including fully automatic firearms.
* Most [[Gun laws in the United States by state|U.S. states]] do not require any permit or any license for the acquisition or selling of most types of firearms, meaning they're sold over the counter and no license is required for buying a great number of firearms. Citizens (excluding [[Gun law in the United States#Prohibited persons|prohibited persons]] in the latter case) may freely buy them from licensed and state authorized dealers or suppliers.
* Some countries including [[Gun law in Austria|Austria]], [[Liechtenstein]], [[Gun laws in the Philippines|Philippines]], and [[Firearms regulation in Switzerland|Switzerland]] are partially licensed, meaning that any non-prohibited citizen may buy repeating rifles and break-action shotguns from licensed dealers and a permit is required only for handguns and [[semi-automatic firearm]]s.
* Some countries allow firearm ownership without good reason or with a simple declaration of reason. For example, in [[Austria]], while the law requires an applicant to have good reason to acquire a license for a handgun, self-defense at home is accepted as a good reason. [[Firearms regulation in Canada|Canada]] and [[Gun law in New Zealand|New Zealand]] do not require good reason for applicants' acquisition of most types of [[long gun]]s, although they require it for restricted weapons like handguns.
* Some countries require an applicant to show good reason to secure a firearm license. In some, like [[Gun laws in Poland|Poland]] and [[Gun laws in Malta|Malta]], the list of good reasons and conditions that must be met is explicitly stated in the law. In others, like [[Kenya]] and the [[Firearms regulation in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], the law does not specify what constitutes a good reason and leaves it at the discretion of authorities, but good or legitimate reasons for obtaining a firearm are hunting, sport shooting, collecting, and self defense.
* In some countries, like [[Gun control in China|China]], [[Japan]], [[Venezuela]] and [[Myanmar]], only people that are abled and trained and are meeting narrow conditions are allowed to own firearms, and few licenses are issued.
* In some countries, including [[Cambodia]], [[Eritrea]], and the [[Solomon Islands]], ownership of firearms by civilians is completely prohibited with exceptions for private security companies, militias and paramilitary groups.