Can a private citizen legally purchase, carry and use safety handcuffs? Learn about the laws and regulations surrounding safety handcuffs for personal protection.
Can a private citizen purchase, carry and use safety handcuffs? When is it a crime?
The law prohibits the purchase and possession of weapons, unless you have a license issued by the public authority, i.e. the police headquarters or the prefecture. However, it is possible to purchase so-called “improper weapons”, i.e. objects that can be used to cause harm even if the purpose for which they were created is completely different (a kitchen knife, a hammer, a chainsaw, etc.), but it is not possible to leave the house with them unless there is a justified reason. In this context, the following question arises: can handcuffs be bought and carried around?
In essence, it is a question of whether it is legal to purchase and go out in public – possibly concealing them – with a pair of handcuffs , the ones that allow you to tie a person’s wrists. Let’s delve deeper into the issue.
Index
- Weapons: Which are legal?
- Are handcuffs considered weapons?
- Are handcuffs freely available?
- Handcuffs: Can You Take Them Outside the Home?
- Handcuffs: When can they be used?
- Police: When can you use handcuffs?
Weapons: Which are legal?
By “ weapon ” we mean any instrument capable of causing offence , whether by its natural purpose (proper weapons) or by the way it is used (improper weapons).
Proper weapons include firearms (pistol, rifle, etc.), projectile weapons (spear, bow, etc.), cutting or pointed weapons (sword, dagger, etc.), bacteriological or chemical weapons, as well as explosive, disruptive or incendiary devices (hand grenades, incendiary bombs, etc.).
The category of improper weapons , on the other hand, includes clubs, pipes, chains, bolts, metal spheres, knives, hammers , axes, etc.
Are handcuffs considered weapons?
Handcuffs cannot be considered weapons – either proper or improper – as they cannot be used to harm a person.
Handcuffs, on the other hand, are physical restraint devices , which are applied to the body – or parts of it – to limit freedom of movement .
Are handcuffs freely available?
Handcuffs are freely available for purchase ; this means that, unlike personal weapons, they can be purchased without the need for an administrative license (no objection or gun license).
Handcuffs: Can You Take Them Outside the Home?
Handcuffs may be freely purchased and carried with you outside your home or other private residence.
As mentioned, in fact, since they are not comparable to any type of weapon , the law does not provide for restrictions on their transportation .
It is also true, however, that during a police check , the discovery of a pair of handcuffs could be rather suspicious.
Strictly speaking, however, even if no valid justification for their possession can be provided, no objection should be raised.
Handcuffs: When can they be used?
What has been said so far does not mean that the use of handcuffs is free: handcuffing a person against their will constitutes the crime of private violence , punishable by up to four years of imprisonment.
On the contrary, it is possible to hypothesize some circumstances in which the use of handcuffs can be considered legal.
First of all, the handcuffs could be used to defend oneself from an attack : in this case, in fact, the exemption of self-defense would apply .
But not only.
The law (art. 383 of the code of criminal procedure) also allows private citizens to arrest a person caught in the act of committing a crime, provided that the crimes are prosecutable ex officio and require mandatory arrest .
This circumstance, in itself, does not authorize the use of means of restraint – including handcuffs – unless they are indispensable to avoid damage to property or people.
Moreover, the fact that handcuffs can be used by a private individual is also evident from the ruling of the Constitutional Court (22 April 1970, n. 89) which established that the simple citizen , when carrying out an arrest in flagrante delicto, assumes the role of a police force .
Therefore, if the captured subject resists, it would be possible to handcuff him at least to protect his own safety , thus once again falling within the hypothesis of self-defense.
Police: When can you use handcuffs?
Contrary to popular belief, even the police are not free to use handcuffs .
According to the law (July 26, 1975, n. 354), handcuffs can be used only when the dangerousness of the subject and the risk of escape require it , or in environmental circumstances that make it difficult for the arrested person to move from one place to another (for example, from home to prison or from the penitentiary to the courtroom).
In all other cases, the use of handcuffs or any other means of physical coercion is prohibited