In Greece in 2025, authorities record 62 violations of the gun law every single day. Over the past year alone, 22,889 firearms offenses were logged—yet only 82 were classified as felonies, while the remaining 22,807 were misdemeanors.
According to data compiled by To Vima, out of all recent illegal acts involving weapons, 2,445 incidents occurred in Crete (a surprisingly low 9%), 6,796 in Athens, 1,582 in Thessaloniki, and a striking 3,761 in the Peloponnese, which tops the list.
During the same period, authorities documented 1,138 cases of illegal gun possession or use in Heraklion, 160 in Rethymno, 988 in Chania, and just 146 in Lasithi. Other hotspots include Laconia (1,572 offenses), Messinia (1,271), central Athens (1,303), the northern suburbs of Athens (1,595), West Attica (1,118), Evia (502), Fthiotida (475), and Rodopi (424).
A Million Illegal Guns
The striking figures presented by To Vima reveal that over one million guns circulating in Greece today are illegal, underscoring the scale of arms smuggling and the growing risk to public safety. This comes on the heels of a deadly shoot-out in early November in Voriza, a mountain village in Crete, which left two residents dead and several injured.
A recent study by the Small Arms Survey, an international research organization, estimates that Greece possesses 1.92 million firearms, of which 1.01 million are unregistered. Most of these illicit weapons are hunting shotguns that owners either fail to declare or keep for self-defense.
The main hubs for gun trafficking are Athens, Thessaloniki, and Heraklion.
Weapons such as pistols and assault rifles are smuggled primarily from Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, and Bulgaria, while newer intelligence suggests that some guns now enter Greece illicitly from war-torn Ukraine. Another emerging trend is the trafficking of blank-firing or gas-propelled guns—imported from Turkey and sent to Bulgaria for illegal modification before entering the Greek black market.
The Dark Web and 3D-Printed Firearms
How do buyers place orders?
Mostly via the dark web, with prices ranging from €180 to €10,000, depending on the weapon’s size and origin. Purchases also occur through websites accessed via the Tor browser, with deliveries arranged through designated postal lockers.
A report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime highlights a rise in 3D-printed firearms in Greece and neighboring countries, adding yet another layer of complexity.
Police sources estimate that on the black market, a 9mm Glock pistol sells for around €1,000, while a Kalashnikov or other submachine guns may reach €3,000. Ammunition remains cheap: €50 for a box of 50 rounds.
Contrary to public perception, officials stress that reckless gunfire—known in Crete as balothies, celebratory shooting at weddings and festivals—is not solely a Cretan problem.
To reverse the trends, the government plans to toughen gun laws dramatically, with penalties reaching up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to €500,000. Until now, many of these acts carried no real consequences and often went unrecorded by the police.
Where the Weapons Are Found
Last year alone, authorities confiscated 252 military-grade weapons—mainly Kalashnikov rifles—with 51 seized in Crete and another 51 in Athens.
They also recovered 9,443 illegal hunting weapons, including 1,381 in Crete and 1,494 in Athens—despite Athens having a population six times larger than the island. A further 5,746 weapons of various types were confiscated: 1,809 in Attica, 1,075 in Thessaloniki, 822 in Crete, and 450 in the Peloponnese.
In Heraklion alone, 638 illegal hunting guns were seized last year—an average of two per day. To illustrate how the landscape has shifted, in 2021 authorities confiscated 1,509 shotguns, 5,005 pistols, and 206 military rifles nationwide.
For decades, Crete has recorded dozens of deadly incidents involving stray bullets at celebrations, long-running clan vendettas (vendettas or vendetes in the local tradition), and even attacks on police officers—most notably in Zoniana in 2007, and again in Voriza in 2001.
The New Gun Law
Under new measures proposed by Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis, penalties now include:
- up to 8 years imprisonment and
- fines between €20,000 and €100,000
for anyone possessing or carrying a firearm or knife at private social or religious events, fairs, or courthouses.
Additionally:
- Illegal possession, carrying, or transport of pistols or revolvers will carry prison sentences and fines from €30,000 to €150,000.
- Repeat offenders face multi-year imprisonment and hundreds of thousands of euros in fines.
- Organizers of social events must report gun violations or gunfire to the police.
Enhanced police units will be created in Messara and Mylopotamos, two areas with several so-called “no-go zones” (avata) where authorities have long struggled to enforce the law.
Criminal Networks and Smuggling Routes
Police are also mapping 20 criminal organizations in Crete—five operating in mountain regions and urban centers in Chania and Lasithi, with the rest active in Rethymno and Heraklion.
Authorities will intensify checks at Cretan ports—including those on the island’s southern coast—where illegal weapons arriving from the Middle East may be entering. Ports in Heraklion and Chania also see weapons smuggled in by ferry passengers, often from Balkan states.
Yet in many cases, traffickers bypass ports completely, unloading weapons onto remote beaches and transporting them to small storage depots in rural Rethymno and Heraklion.
