Official DIGECAM procedure: DIGECAM's companies section is at digecam.mil.gt/acceso-empresas and its procedures page at digecam.mil.gt/tramites. Headquarters: 12 Avenida 31-09, Zona 5, Guatemala City · PBX +502 2299-9797 · service hours Monday to Friday 07:00-15:00.

Quick checklist before starting:

  • Licence application form and the inspection request form for opening a compraventa business
  • Notarial sworn declaration with the applicant’s details
  • Legalized DPI copy and current criminal and police records of the owner or legal representative
  • Trade patent whose object specifies the purchase and sale of civil-use and sporting firearms and ammunition
  • RTU certification from SAT and an accounting certification of income or financial statements
  • Premises meeting the security measures of Regulation Art. 22
  • Receipts for the inspection payment and the licence payment

TL;DR: DIGECAM’s compraventa licence is the authorization to sell firearms and ammunition in Guatemala. It is granted to individuals or legal entities (LAM Art. 55), costs Q1,000 and lasts five years (DIGECAM tariff; LAM Art. 143). DIGECAM’s requirements sheet lists 12 items, including an inspection request and the inspection payment. Once open, the shop must be connected online to DIGECAM’s system every day (LAM Art. 56; Regulation Art. 20).

As of 7 November 2026, based on DIGECAM’s requirements sheet and tariff and the texts of Decree 15-2009 and Government Agreement 85-2011 published by DIGECAM.

What is the Firearm and Ammunition Dealer License?

It is the licence that the General Directorate of Arms and Ammunition Control (DIGECAM) of the Ministry of National Defense issues to individuals or legal entities that want to engage in the purchase and sale (compraventa) of firearms and ammunition (LAM Art. 55). DIGECAM’s tariff lists it as a five-year licence, and LAM Art. 143 gives five years of validity to every licence for compraventa, shooting ranges and gunsmith workshops; each renewal must meet all the requirements of the first licence.

Selling firearms without DIGECAM authorization is the crime of illegal sale of firearms under LAM Art. 103: 5 to 8 years of non-commutable prison plus seizure, rising to 8 to 12 years if the firearms are war-class or reserved to the Army. Maintaining or repairing other people’s firearms on a permanent or habitual basis without a DIGECAM licence is the separate crime of illegal gunsmith workshop under Art. 117 (3 to 5 years). Gunsmith workshops (armerías) are regulated in Articles 85-88, and importing firearms is a separate DIGECAM licence (individual import licence).

Requirements (DIGECAM sheet: Licencia de Compraventa de Armas de Fuego y Municiones)

  1. Application form for the compraventa licence for firearms and ammunition.
  2. Inspection request form for opening a compraventa business.
  3. Sworn declaration before a notary with: full names of the applicant, age, marital status, nationality, profession or activity, capacity in which they act, DPI number, exact home and work addresses, and a promise to inform DIGECAM immediately of any change in the data.
  4. Legalized photocopy of the DPI of the owner, or of the legal representative for a legal entity.
  5. Certification of no criminal and police records, of the owner or of the legal representative (criminal records come from the Organismo Judicial; police records from the PNC / MINGOB).
  6. Accounting certification of income or financial statements.
  7. Legalized photocopy of the articles of incorporation and their amendments, registered in the Mercantile Registry, if the applicant is a legal entity.
  8. Legalized photocopy of the company and business trade patents (patente de comercio de sociedad y de empresa) for a legal entity, or of the business trade patent for an individual. The object of the patent must specify the purchase and sale of civil-use and sporting firearms and ammunition.
  9. Legalized photocopy of the legal representative’s appointment, for a legal entity.
  10. Certification of registration as a taxpayer with SAT (Unified Tax Registry, RTU) — see how to obtain a NIT.
  11. Receipt for the inspection payment.
  12. Receipt for the licence payment.

Premises security measures (Regulation Art. 22)

Government Agreement 85-2011, Art. 22, lists the physical security measures for compraventa premises:

  • (a) Premises built with a roof and strong, solid walls of block or concrete.
  • (b) Premises not shared with another company or business.
  • (c) A single access door.
  • (d) Not located in a gated community, condominium or house.
  • (e) A metal grille in front of the counter, so that people outside the business have no access to the area where the firearms and ammunition are.
  • (f) An electric lock at the main entrance, so that people outside the business stay between the grille and the main entrance.
  • (g) A cage-shaped metal grille at the main entrance.
  • (h) Beside the main entrance, a locker with lockable doors where visitors leave their firearms before entering the sales room.
  • (i) An ABC fire extinguisher of at least 15 pounds, serviced every six months.
  • (j) A safe or vault able to hold the whole inventory of firearms and ammunition, at least one quarter inch thick.
  • (k) A burglar alarm with enough passive motion sensors to cover every area, with siren, panic button and central electrical box.
  • (l) A first-aid kit.
  • (m) When DIGECAM requires it, one or more agents from a private security company.
  • (n) Other security measures DIGECAM considers necessary in specific cases.

LAM Art. 56 adds that the shop may start operating only when it meets the physical, technological and human security measures of the regulation plus the specific ones DIGECAM sets for each establishment.

Step-by-step

  1. Register the business. A legal entity needs its articles of incorporation registered in the Mercantile Registry and its company and business patents; an individual needs a business patent. In every case the patent’s object must specify the purchase and sale of civil-use and sporting firearms and ammunition (business registration).
  2. Get the RTU certification from SAT and the accounting certification of income or financial statements.
  3. Prepare the premises to meet Regulation Art. 22.
  4. Gather the personal documents of the owner or legal representative: sworn declaration before a notary, legalized DPI copy, criminal and police records.
  5. Fill in both forms (licence application and inspection request) and pay the inspection and the licence.
  6. File with DIGECAM at 12 Avenida 31-09, Zona 5, Guatemala City.

Cost and validity

ItemAmount
Compraventa licence for firearms/ammunition, five years (DIGECAM tariff)Q1,000
Replacement of the compraventa licence (DIGECAM tariff)Q300
InspectionReceipt required by the requirements sheet

Validity: five years (LAM Art. 143). Each renewal must meet every requirement of the first licence.

Obligations once the licence is issued

Connection to DIGECAM’s system

LAM Art. 56 requires the shop to be connected online to DIGECAM’s computer system to enter and control sale data. Regulation Art. 20 requires the connection every day, with computer equipment meeting DIGECAM’s minimum capacity, staff trained by DIGECAM, and the reports DIGECAM requires in the form and deadline it sets.

Selling a firearm (LAM Art. 59)

To buy a civil-use, sporting or individual-use firearm, the buyer presents to the shop: a legalized copy of the DPI, an original birth certificate, a certification of no criminal and police records, the boleto de ornato, and proof of employment or an income certification (or a sworn declaration of income before a notary). The shop sends the documents and the firearm to DIGECAM, which within no more than five business days sends the shop the authorization to deliver the firearm and the possession card. The buyer then has three days to take the firearm from the shop to their home or workplace. A carry licence is a separate procedure (first carry licence).

Selling ammunition (LAM Art. 60)

  • Ammunition is sold only on presentation of the DIGECAM possession card or the carry licence, and only in the caliber registered in those documents.
  • Monthly limit: up to 250 rounds per firearm registered on a carry licence, or 200 rounds with a possession registration; more requires a special DIGECAM permit.
  • The invoice must show the buyer’s name, address, NIT, possession card or carry licence number, and the buyer’s signature acknowledging receipt.
  • The seller stamps the shop’s seal and the sale date on each box and sends DIGECAM a report and a copy of the sales invoice at the end of each calendar month.

Inventory (LAM Art. 58)

Any difference in the physical inventory triggers a review of the control books, to be cleared within 8 days; if not cleared, the shop is closed temporarily for 15 days. DIGECAM must decide on reopening within 24 hours after the difference is cleared. A repeat leads to definitive closure and cancellation of the licence.

Permitted firearms

  • Civil use (LAM Art. 9): revolvers and semi-automatic pistols of any caliber; pump, semi-automatic, breech- or muzzle-loading shotguns with a barrel of up to 24 inches; rifles of mechanical or semi-automatic action.
  • Prohibited to private persons (LAM Art. 82): war-class weapons, explosives, chemical, biological and atomic weapons, booby traps and experimental weapons; suppressors and silencers; automatic-conversion mechanisms; concealed-firing devices; war-grade, poisoned or incendiary ammunition; home-made firearms; firearms with no serial number or an erased, altered or defaced one, or without model, caliber, maker or country of origin.

Penalties

InfractionLegal sanction
Selling firearms without DIGECAM authorization (LAM Art. 103)5 to 8 years of non-commutable prison + seizure; 8 to 12 years if the firearms are war-class or reserved to the Army
Illegal gunsmith workshop — maintaining or repairing others’ firearms without a licence (LAM Art. 117)3 to 5 years of non-commutable prison + seizure
Holding war-class firearms without DIGECAM authorization — illegal deposit (LAM Art. 116)10 to 15 years of non-commutable prison + seizure
Inventory difference not cleared (LAM Art. 58)Temporary closure for 15 days; on repeat, definitive closure and licence cancellation