By Andrea Romano Bonetti
For a long time now, weapons from the past have been attracting interest among collectors, occupying a small niche in the antiques market.
Many retailers today operate with a varied and differentiated range of products, some of them even specialising in the sale of accurate replicas, while others prefer items exclusively linked to specific historical periods, such as the French Grandeur era, the German militaristic period, the Italian Risorgimento, the two world wars, or offensive and defensive weapons used in ancient Japan and during the imperial period.
With modernisation and commercial growth, some of the factors and methods used to evaluate objects have also changed. While the practice of attributing value based on the age, rarity and condition of an artefact has remained unchanged since the days of nineteenth-century connoisseurs, the parameter determined by the relationship between supply and demand is now undergoing profound and continuous change, particularly due to the influence of new cultural trends and the emergence of increasingly diverse tastes.
The influx of many of these objects onto the antiques market and growing demand from collectors have stimulated the development of counterfeit manufacturing in the West, which was once established and thriving only in areas of the East affected by mass tourism.
In Italy, the ownership, use, possession and transport of almost every type of weapon is regulated by a dense and complex set of laws that often confuse those who, after finding something in the attic, receiving an unexpected inheritance or wanting to start collecting, come into possession of these objects and want to know the laws and obligations they must comply with. Although there are many types of weapons and their field of application is varied, firearms and so-called “bladed weapons” (cutting, stabbing, striking, etc.) can be considered the usual interests of collectors. In the legislator’s classification, the former can be war, common, hunting or sporting, and finally, antique. With a few exceptions, firearms intended for use in warfare and in working order are, for obvious reasons, prohibited for collectors, and anyone who accidentally finds one is required to report its presence to the public security authorities as soon as possible. Common firearms, whether for hunting, sporting purposes or personal defence (including some air guns), may be possessed after obtaining a special licence from the Ministry of the Interior and registering them with the police or Carabinieri.
Similarly, bladed weapons considered to be personal property, whether antique or not, are subject to reporting requirements and must be accompanied by a licence.
Anyone wishing to collect more than eight antique, artistic or rare weapons is required to hold a specific licence for this type of weapon, while anyone in possession of fewer than eight is only required to report the items to the local public security office or Carabinieri station in their area of residence.
Furthermore, anyone wishing to transport individual items or entire collections within the national territory is required to notify the same authorities.
