Entrepreneurship in the field of firearms trade in the Russian Far East at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries: regulatory features

   Based on the study of obligatory ordinances and correspondence of military governors and Governors-general the article examines the specifics of regulating entrepreneurial activity in the firearms trade in the Russian Far East in the late XIX - early XX century. The restrictions on the import of this product into the region and its export to China and the difficulties in obtaining permits for this type of trade for entrepreneurs are investigated. Data on the volumes of firearms sold are given; the effectiveness of the measures of the local administration to control this trade is assessed. Regulation of the firearms trade in the region was carried out by senior officials of the local administration - governors and Governors-general - who approved legal acts regulating the circulation of weapons in the territories entrusted to them. The supervision of the firearms trade was strengthened after the declaration in July 1900 of a number of places of the Russian Far East on martial law because of the Boxer Rebellion in China. In this regard, by order of the Governor-general, information was collected on the amount of firearms from local traders. Also, all permits issued by the Governor-general to trading companies to import firearms for sale were reported to the police to establish proper oversight. The regulation of the trade in firearms in the Russian Far East had its own specificity, largely due to its border position with China: in fact, there was a ban on the sale of weapons to the Chinese and its export to Manchuria.

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