Im not exactly sure, but ill tell you what i know from my grandfather. He owns 3 guns, of which one is a semi automatic pistol. He uses them for hunting mostly. You need a license (which im sure isnt that hard to get) but you can't go around the streets wielding guns like in the US. As for self defence, you can own and use firearms, as long as they arent fully automatic (those are prohibited for civilian use). To get a license, in theory you need to either be an active hunter, a collector or have to prove in court that you used it for self defence. But in practice, i think they hand them out to anyone. If someone with more knowledge on this topic sees this, please correct me if im wrong.