Gun legislation in Germany

Gun legislation in Germany is being regulated by the German Weapons Act (German: Waffengesetz), dates from 1972, and includes as well as modifies previous gun laws. This statute regulates the handling of knives, firearms and ammunition as well as acquisition, storage, commerce and maintenance of weapons. It also defines certain forbidden items such as nunchakus, switchblades and brass knuckles and bans their possession and distribution.

By some the German regulation has been considered among the strictest gun control in the world.[1] While gun ownership is widespread and associations and ranges for shooting sports and the use of historical guns and weapons in festivals are not being tabooed, the use of guns for private self-defence purposes is restricted. Estimates of the actual guns in use go up to 45 Million.[2] Germany's National Gun Registry introduced at the end of 2012 counted 5.5 million firearms in use, which are legally owned by 1.4 million people in the country. About 1.5 Million sport shooters in several thousand Schützenvereine own and use guns for sport, about 400,000 hunters have a licensed gun, about 300,000 collect guns and about 900,000 own an inherited gun.[2]

History of firearms restrictions in Germany

The Ewige Landfriede ("everlasting Landfriede", Perpetual Public Peace) ruling of 1495, banned the medieval right of vendetta (Fehderecht) in the German realm. It passed at the Diet of Worms and had been enacted by the German king and later emperor, Maximilian I. In the Holy Roman Empire Claims were henceforth no longer to be decided in battle, but confirmed through the legal process. It established a certain monopoly of the state in the use of organized armed force. The German nationalist movement asked for Volksbewaffnung, a militia system according to the Swiss role model, but failed with those requests in the German revolutions of 1848–49. However, the ownership of guns and weapons itself was not generelly restricted but reglementation about carrying arms in public came into use.

The request for a general disarming of the citizens and a generic gun law has been imposed by the Allies after World War I. It has been introduced by the Weimar Republik, the actual enforcement was less stringent, as no general disarming took place immediately after the war. Various incidents, like the Kapp Putsch 1920 and the assassination of Walther Rathenau 1922 lead to actual enforcements. The Weimar republic saw various Freikorps and paramilitary forces like the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold, the Stahlhelm and the Nazi SA.

The concept of trustworthiness of the owner and need for the special purpose of the user (e.g. hunting, sport or self-defence) has been established since then in any German gun law.[3]

Regulation after the 1919 Treaty of Versailles

From 1918 to 1920, with the defeat of Germany in World War I, the nation was forced to accept a series of devastating reparations after signing the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty had stipulations to disarm the government. The German government adopted a series of gun legislation against private arms ownership to avoid disarming the German military. Article 169 of the Treaty of Versailles explicitly targeted the state: "Within two months from the coming into force of the present Treaty, German arms, munitions, and war material, including anti-aircraft material, existing in Germany in excess of the quantities allowed, must be surrendered to the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers to be destroyed or rendered useless."[4]

In 1919, the German government passed the Regulations on Weapons Ownership, which declared that "all firearms, as well as all kinds of firearms ammunition, are to be surrendered immediately."[5] Under the regulations, anyone found in possession of a firearm or ammunition was subject to five years' imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 marks.

On August 7, 1920, rising fears whether or not Germany could have rebellions prompted the government to enact a second gun-regulation law called the Law on the Disarmament of the People. It put into effect the provisions of the Versailles Treaty in regard to the limit on military-type weapons.

In 1928, after a near decade of hyperinflation destroyed the structural fabric of the society, a rapidly expanding three-way political divide between the conservatives, National Socialists, and Communists prompted the rapidly declining conservative majority to enact the Law on Firearms and Ammunition. This law relaxed gun restrictions and put into effect a strict firearm licensing scheme. Under this scheme, Germans could possess firearms, but they were required to have separate permits to do the following: own or sell firearms, carry firearms (including handguns), manufacture firearms, and professionally deal in firearms and ammunition. Furthermore, the law restricted ownership of firearms to "...persons whose trustworthiness is not in question and who can show a need for a (gun) permit." This law explicitly revoked the 1919 Regulations on Weapons Ownership, which had banned all firearms possession.

Especially car associations lobbied for an easy gun permit for car owners[6] which was granted by the government for drivers traveling often in the countryside.[7]

Gun regulation of the Third Reich

Nazi law to disarm Jews

The 1938 German Weapons Act, the precursor of the current weapons law, superseded the 1928 law. As under the 1928 law, citizens were required to have a permit to carry a firearm and a separate permit to acquire a firearm. But under the new law:

Under both the 1928 and 1938 acts, gun manufacturers and dealers were required to maintain records with information about who purchased guns and the guns' serial numbers. These records were to be delivered to a police authority for inspection at the end of each year.

The 1938 Regulations Against Jews' Possession of Weapons, promulgated the day after Kristallnacht, effectively deprived all Jews living under the Third Reich of the right to possess any form of weapons including truncheons, knives, or firearms and ammunition.[10] Before that, some police forces used the pre-existing "trustworthiness" clause to disarm Jews on the basis that "the Jewish population 'cannot be regarded as trustworthy'".[8]

Current laws

After 1945, even German police officers were initially not allowed to carry firearms. Private ownership of firearms was not allowed until after 1956. The legal status returned essentially to that of the Law on Firearms and Ammunition of 1928. The regulation of the matter was thoroughly revised in 1972, when the new restrictive Federal Weapons Act (Bundeswaffengesetz) became effective, partly as a reaction to the terror of the Red Army Faction.[11] It was developed in the Federal Weapons Act of 2002 and by amendments in 2008 and 2009. These laws were the result of a chain of school shootings in Erfurt, Emsdetten and Winnenden. They led to a public debate, in which blame was attributed to various elements of youth culture and society, including violent computer games, television programs, rock music and private gun ownership.[12]

The Weapons Act of 2002 increased the age requirements for licensed hunters and competition shooters. It also introduced the requirement of a psychological evaluation for persons under the age of 25 to fulfill the requirement of personal adequacy for large-bore firearms.

The first amendment became effective on April 1, 2008. The intention of that amendment was to ban certain kinds of weapons like airsoft-guns, tasers, so-called Anscheinswaffen (dummy-guns) and knives with blades longer than 12 cm from public places. They may still be carried in sealed wrappings and for professional or ceremonial purposes. Their use on private premises and in non-public places like gun clubs is not restricted.

The second amendment became effective on July 17, 2009. It introduced routine verifications of safe firearms storage by local firearms control offices at the homes of licensees. It also tightened the conditions for continuous necessity. A constitutional complaint (Verfassungsbeschwerde) was launched against the law, alleging a violation of the inviolability of the home, guaranteed by Art. 13 of the German constitution.[13]

The weapons law does not apply to military use of weapons within the Bundeswehr or to the police. The identity card of German troops and police officers contains a term allowing them to carry weapons. Nonetheless – within the military – issuance of guns and especially ammunition is very strictly controlled.

In Germany, the possession of any firearm with a muzzle energy exceeding 7.5 Joule (~5.5 ft·lbf; for comparison, a .22LR cartridge has a muzzle energy of 159 J) requires a valid firearms ownership license for any particular weapon. The current Federal Weapons Act adopts a two-tiered approach to firearms licensing.

The weapons law considers suppressors the same as the firearm it is designed for, which means that if a firearm may be bought without a license, the acquisition and possession of suppressor for this firearm does also not require a license.

There are two restrictions regarding magazines in Germany. When sports shooting in Germany, it is illegal to use a magazine capable of holding more than ten rounds of ammunition, and when hunting, it is illegal to use a magazine capable of holding more than two rounds. These restrictions apply only to semi-automatic long guns. The acquisition and possession of magazines for semi-automatic long guns of any capacity is legal for anyone without a license.

Firearms ownership license

A firearms ownership license (Waffenbesitzkarte or WBK) or an entry to an existing WBK is mandatory for each weapon purchased. It entitles owners to purchase firearms and handle them on their own property and any private property with property owner consent. On public premises, a licensed firearm must be transported unloaded and in a stable, fully enclosing, locked container. A weapons ownership license does not entitle the owner to shoot the weapon or carry it on public premises without the prescribed container. Owners must obtain mandatory insurance and a means to securely store the weapon on their premises (a weapons locker). Blanket ownership licenses are issued to arms dealers, firearms experts and – with limitations – to collectors. Today, there are ca. four million legal private gun owners.[14]

A number of criteria must be met before a firearms ownership license is issued:

Inheritors of legal firearms can obtain a permit without having to demonstrate expert knowledge or necessity, but without them, the firearm has to be blocked by an arms dealer (§ 20 WaffG) and an inheritor's license does not include the right to acquire or handle ammunition.

Persons who are

are barred from obtaining a firearms ownership license.

The firearms ownership licenses are issued in three color-coded varieties, depending on the applicants' necessity. While self-defence is usually not accepted as a reasonable grounds for such a license, the following ones are:

Firearms banned from sporting use

The following firearms are banned from sporting use in Germany, and may not be purchased with a license issued with the necessety of sporting:

This restriction only applies to persons with sports shooters license and not to those with hunters- and collectors licenses.

Firearms that do not require a license

For persons over 18 years of age, a license is not required to own or even carry a single shot percussion firearm developed before January 1, 1871, as well as all muzzle loaders with a flintlock or earlier design. However, the purchase of black powder or similar in order to actually use the firearms requires a license, except when purchased at a shooting range for immediate use at that range.

Prohibited firearms

Firearms that are prohibited in Germany may not be owned by anyone except with a special license from the Federal Criminal Police Office, which is only given to manufacturers, exporters, and, on rare occasions, collectors. The most important ones are:

Firearms carry permit

Firearms carry permits (Waffenschein) entitle licensees to publicly carry legally owned weapons, loaded in a concealed or non-concealed manner. A mandatory legal and safety class and shooting proficiency tests are required to obtain such a permit. Carry permits are usually only issued to persons with a particular need for carrying a firearm. This includes some private security personnel and persons living under a raised threat-level like celebrities and politicians. They are valid up to three years and can be extended. Carrying at public events is prohibited. Licensed hunters do not need a permit to carry loaded weapons while hunting, and unloaded weapons while directly traveling to and from such an activity.

Small firearms carry permit

A small firearms carry permit (Kleiner Waffenschein) was introduced in 2002. It can be obtained without having to demonstrate expert knowledge, necessity or a mandatory insurance. The only requirements are that the applicant be of legal age, trustworthy and personally adequate. It entitles the licensee to publicly carry gas pistols (both of the blank and irritant kind) and flare guns. These types of firearms are freely available to adults; only the actual carrying on public property requires the permit. Similar to the full permit, carrying at public events is prohibited.

References

  1. ↑ "German group denounces weapons law as unconstitutional". Deutsche Welle.
  2. 1 2 Zeitung, Badische. "Deutschland: Deutsches Waffenrecht: 45 Millionen Waffen sind im Umlauf - badische-zeitung.de". www.badische-zeitung.de. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
  3. ↑ Historie des Waffenrechts (History of gun law in Germany, website of Mönchengladbach Police)
  4. ↑ Treaty of Versailles: Articles 159-213; Military, Naval, and Air Clauses
  5. ↑ Verordnung des Rates der Volksbeauftragen über Waffenbesitz, Reichsgesetzblatt 1919, Volume I, § 1, page 31–32.
  6. ↑ Allgemeinen Automobil-Zeitung, Jg. 89, 1928, Nr. 49, p. 7.
  7. ↑ Uwe Fraunholz: Motorphobia. Verlag Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2002, ISBN 3-525-35137-2, P. 153.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Harcourt, Bernard E (2004) "On the NRA, Adolph Hitler, Gun Registration, and the Nazi Gun Laws: Exploding the Culture Wars (A Call to Historians)" p 20-21.
  9. 1 2 Alex Seitz-Wald (January 11, 2013). "The Hitler gun control lie". salon.com. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  10. ↑ Halbrook, Stephen P. (2000) "Nazi Firearms Law and the Disarming of the German Jews." Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol 17. No. 3. p.528.
  11. ↑ Police of North Rhine-Westphalia on History of German Weapons Law (german)
  12. ↑ Der Spiegel: Winnenden Commentary – Do You Know What Your Children Are Doing?
  13. ↑ Presseerklärung der FvLW e.V. zur Verfassungsbeschwerde Archived July 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ↑ NDR: Grundwissen privater Waffenbesitz
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