There are only a few stores which sell guns and ammo in Panama City. Semi-automatic handguns, revolvers, shotguns, and rifles are available. Hi-capacity ammo magazine clips for any of these types of guns are also available.
Guns are expensive here. Expect to pay twice as much for name brand guns than in the U.S. like Smith & Wesson, Remington, or Ruger. The inventory is rather small in the gun stores. If you order a specific gun it can take up to 3 months for the gun store to receive it.
Here is the Process for buying a gun in Panama:
1. Visit a gun store and provide proof that you are a legal resident of Panama. Tourists are not allowed to purchase guns.
2. Select a gun and pay for it.
3. You will be given a sanitized cup to pee in at their bathroom. The urine will be analyzed for drugs.
4. You will be given a Panama government form to take to a government health office to have your finger pricked for a blood sample for its DNA.
5. You will go to a medical psychiatrist for a short interview and return to the gun store with a short written report that you are mentally fit to own a gun.
6. Obtain two passport size photos of your face.
7. You will have your right index finger print attached to a green triple folded card board ID form which will include one passport size photo and your name, address, residency carnet ID number, the type of gun and serial number and the expiration date. The maximum is 5 years before the permit expires.
7. The gun store will send all of this paperwork to the national police along with the gun for ballistic tests.
8. It could take 3 months to get your gun permit.
You can purchase up to 10 guns and have all them listed on one gun permit.
Short barreled rifles and sawed off shotguns are legal in Panama. While they are not sold in that shape, it is legal to have them shortened.
Ammunition can be bought once you obtain the gun permit. While armor piercing bullets are prohibited, high speed and hollow point bullets are legal.
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