Of all the many restrictions on life in Saudi Arabia that might reasonably be lifted, making it easier to buy and sell guns does not spring to mind as an obvious necessity – but the interior ministry seems to think otherwise.

It has decided to allow anyone over 25 with a clean criminal record and a bank guarantee of 500,000 riyals ($133,000) to apply to open a gun shop.

The ministry has also said it plans to start issuing permits for gun clubs. Arab News says one of the requirements for such clubs is that they “should be away from civil establishments, residential districts, schools, hospitals, markets, petrol stations and gas warehouses”.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 19 October 2009. 

Update, 20 October 2009: The riyals-to-dollars conversion was wrong when this item was first posted. It has now been corrected.