Colombia Gun Permits Are Valid Again, and the State Arms Maker’s Website Fell Over
COLOMBIA · SECURITY
Key Facts
- —The decree President Abelardo de la Espriella signed Decree 1368 of 2026 on 8 September, effective the following day.
- —What it does It lifts the general suspension on firearm carry permits and restores individual permits that were already valid.
- —What it is not It does not create new carry rights and does not authorise unrestricted carry.
- —The catch Permit holders no longer need a case-by-case exception; the general block, not the vetting, is what ends.
- —The reaction The website of state arms maker Indumil was overwhelmed after the announcement.
- —The context De la Espriella took office on 7 August 2026, one month before signing it.
The decree does not create a right to carry. It restores permits that already existed and had been frozen, which is a narrower change than the reaction suggests.
Colombia gun permits that had been frozen under a blanket suspension became usable again on Wednesday. The instrument is Decree 1368 of 2026.
President Abelardo de la Espriella signed it on Tuesday 8 September. It took effect on Wednesday 9 September.
The decree lifts the general suspension on firearm carry permits. It restores the effect of individual permits that were already valid.
That is a narrower change than the headlines suggest. Nobody gains a permit who did not have one.
What Was Actually Suspended
Colombia has long required a state-issued permit to carry a firearm. The permit system was not abolished by the suspension and is not created by the decree.
What the suspension did was switch off the general validity of those permits. Holders had to seek a case-by-case exception to carry lawfully.
The decree removes that extra step. A lawyer quoted by El Colombiano, Juan Francisco Navarrete, put it plainly: this is not open carry.
The vetting requirements themselves are unchanged. Applicants still face the conditions Colombian law sets.
The Website Told the Real Story
Indumil is the state-owned military industry company. In Colombia it is also the institution people deal with over firearms paperwork.
El Colombiano reported that its website was overwhelmed after the announcement. The precise technical cause has not been confirmed.
A site collapsing is not a policy fact. It is a demand signal, and it suggests the suspended permits number in the tens of thousands.
That matters for how the change is read. A dormant permit stock that reactivates at once is a different event from gradual new issuance.
Why a Country Suspends Permits at All
A blanket suspension is an unusual tool. Most governments that want fewer guns in circulation tighten issuance rather than freeze what is already issued.
Freezing has one advantage: it works immediately. Tightening issuance takes years to change the stock of permits in circulation.
It has one large disadvantage. It penalises the holders who complied with the rules, because those are the only people it reaches.
People carrying illegally were never affected by the suspension. That asymmetry is the standard argument against the policy and the reason it was politically vulnerable.
Where This Sits Politically
De la Espriella was sworn in on 7 August 2026. This decree came one month into the term.
He campaigned on a security platform and the reversal is consistent with it. Reversing a predecessor’s security measure by decree is fast, and it is also fragile.
What one decree does another can undo. Durable change would require Congress.
The measure also lands in the same week as a United States security agreement signed in Barranquilla. The direction of travel is consistent.
What Nobody Can Say Yet
The effect on violence is unknown and will stay unknown for some time. Colombia’s homicide data is published with a lag and is driven by armed-group conflict more than by licensed carry.
Anyone claiming a causal effect within weeks is guessing. The honest position is that the evidence does not exist yet.
The more measurable question is enforcement. Restoring permits increases the number of legally armed civilians police encounter.
That is an operational change for officers regardless of what happens to the homicide rate.
What to Watch
The first marker is how many permits actually reactivate. Indumil and the defence ministry hold that number and have not published it.
The second is whether Congress is asked to codify the change. A decree that survives only until the next government is a weak instrument.
The third is the legal challenge. Colombian security decrees are routinely tested at the Constitutional Court.
The fourth is regional. Colombia gun permits are being loosened while several neighbours are tightening, and the contrast will draw comparison.
More: Colombia news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Decree 1368 of 2026 do?
It lifts Colombia’s general suspension on firearm carry permits and restores the effectiveness of individual permits that were already valid. It does not create new carry rights and does not authorise unrestricted carry. It was signed on 8 September 2026 and took effect on 9 September.
Does this mean open carry in Colombia?
No. A lawyer quoted by El Colombiano, Juan Francisco Navarrete, said the decree only ends the general suspension and removes the requirement for a case-by-case exception. The underlying permit requirements are unchanged.
Who is Abelardo de la Espriella?
Colombia’s president, sworn in on 7 August 2026. He campaigned on security and this decree came one month into his term.
Sources: Finance Colombia, El Colombiano, Infobae, Bloomberg, Anadolu Agency, Reuters, Associated Press, Rio Times.
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