Overall, Russia is not close to US in terms of gun rights but it is ahead in a few aspects.
As for standard procedure on getting a license there are some steps:
1) getting a letter from your local psychiatrist and narcologist claiming you aren’t diagnozed as narco or psycho.
2) getting a form 046-1 certificate from any hospital. It means visiting a lot of doctors but mostly formal and their records means nothing to guys deciding in your license with the exception of psychiatrist who spend a few time to find if you are about to make some shooting at work or shopping mall. It usually takes up to a few hours at some $20 to get a certificate in a public hospital. The price might be much higher and time shorter at luxury private clinic. The resuults aren’t recorded in any database. If you have a problem with a psychiatrist in one clinic you are free to try another clinic.
3) making 4 small photos of you for officers to put into your license.
4) to bring all the above to an OLRR division at your local police station with a written application to a chief.
They have 10 days to decide to allow you or not.
It is usually ok if your letters and certificate aren’t fake and you have no recent criminal records.
Thus if you are living in a bad neighbourhood they may demand you to upgrade home security in order to prevent your gun coming to a criminals.
After that you are visiting a formal exam to prove them if you are able to use a gun safely. You are usually given an unloaded AK or semi-auto pistol to assebble and disassemble it and to fire a blank shot after. If you have problem they are usually helping. If you are avoiding stupid things like scratching a nose or ear with a gun, looking into a barrel or pointing it to an officer you are about to pass it. If you are doing they are shouting at you to learn a rules and it counts as you passed it.
Next you are going to bank to pay some $50 fee and getting your “license to buy, carry and store weapons” as they call it. It may be of three types: for self-defence hand guns (or LOA lisence), smooth-bored long guns, rifled-bore guns.
There are some little pecularities in getting one or another but it is not worth to type here.
Your license is valid for 5 years and has to be extended within 3 months before expiration.
Along with a licence you are getting 5 blank permits to buy up to 5 guns within 6 months. As soon as you got one you have to bring it to OLRR to let officers write-off it’s serial number. If your permits are expired or you want another gun within a 5-gun allowed range after 6 months you are going to OLRR to get one.
All written above is about to get a civilian firearms. Military class weapons aren’t allowed under any of three lisences mentioned above.
Anyway, sost shotguns and rifles which arevbanned in US as ‘assault’ firearms are pretty legal in Russia. Considering shotguns and rifles it counts as non-military and citizen legal as soon as it is unable to fire full auto and beyond an artillery caliber.
You can have freely all the folding stocks, pistol grips, detachable mags and muzzle breaks you want.
That makes such an items the most popular civilian firearms there:
http://www.exclusivegun.ru/images/product/29452566.jpg
http://www.exclusivegun.ru/images/product/25467336.jpg
Thus over 10 rounds mags aren’t welcome, it is not that much enforced. External grenade launchers are their single prohibited ‘assault’ feature. It is coming out of the fact it is usually 40 mm which counts as artillery which is only military legal.
So their laws are very soft on assault rifles and shotguns but it is very different on handguns using conventional ammo. That is considered as ‘professional’ or police firearms while LOA lisence covering only versions modified for using ‘civilian ammo’ such as rubber bullets and chemical agents like tear gas or light nerve agents.
Anyway, it is still not an obstacle for one who really want to have a conventional handgun in Russia.
There are thousands of small private companies providing security services for businesses and government bodies. They do employ guards who are allowed to have both ‘civilian’ and ‘professional’ firearms including conventional handguns as their working tools. If you have a good friend who owns one of companies like that and he or she willing to hire you as a part-time guard you are lucky. It may be formal as well if you are a very good friends so you won’t be busy to attend job.
As for a consealed carry or not I’m not sure if they have any regulations on that.
Hunting firearms are usually carried with mags detached in special bags of boxes while in cities or towns, handguns are usually consealed carried.
lisence=license, bags of boxes=bags or boxes
While I am impressed with your ability to find those Russian gun rules, and thank you for so doing, I must ask what of the rules you posted are “ahead in a few aspects”?
From requiring a long list of approvals to submitting to the tender mercies of a psych exam because said psych will determine your likelihood of being a murderous nutter (they can’ make such predictions) to gun registration - all are seemingly behind us.
Might I ask where they are ahead of us?
