Apply for gun license

You must apply for the firearms license at the competent firearms authority. Submit the application together with the required documents.

The firearms authority will issue you with the firearms license if you meet the necessary requirements.

• You must be at least 18 years old.
  
• You must have a valid permit for the acquisition and possession of a weapon (e.g. hunting license or weapon possession card) or your employer, if you want to carry the weapon as an employee of a security company.
  
• You must prove that it is necessary for you to carry weapons in public (need).
  
  To be allowed to carry weapons in public, you must show a credible reason to the appropriate firearms authority. As a rule, a credible reason is recognized if
  • Your life is in great danger.
  • You are an employee of a security company.
  • you can credibly demonstrate other reasons why you want to carry weapons in public.
    
• You must prove your reliability under weapons law.
  
  You can be assessed as reliable under weapons law, among other things,
  • if you have not been legally sentenced to a prison term of at least 1 year within the last 10 years and have not been a member of or supported a prohibited organization within the last 10 years.
  • if it cannot be assumed that you misuse or improperly handle weapons or ammunition, do not store these items carefully or hand them over to persons who are not authorized to do so.
  • if you have not been in preventive police custody with judicial authorization for violence more than once in the last 5 years.
  • if you have not repeatedly or grossly violated the weapons law.

• You must prove your personal suitability.
  
  You can be assessed as personally unsuitable, among other things, if
  • you are legally incompetent.
  • You are addicted to alcohol or other intoxicating substances, mentally ill or debilitated.
  • you suffer from serious illnesses, such as brain injuries, or physical impairments, such as amputations or severe visual impairment.
  • it can be assumed that you are not able to handle weapons or ammunition carefully or properly or that there is a concrete danger that you will endanger others or yourself.
    
• You must demonstrate that you have sufficient knowledge of firearms and ammunition and how to handle them. You can shoot a firearm and know how to carry a firearm safely in public (expertise).
  
  To be allowed to carry weapons in public, you must prove that you can handle them appropriately. In order to obtain the expertise in handling weapons and ammunition, you must attend an appropriate course. The course includes a theoretical and practical part. At the end of the course, you will take an examination before an authorized examination board. If you pass the exam, you will receive a certificate for which weapons and ammunition you have acquired the expertise. You can also obtain the expertise only for the weapons and ammunition that you wish to acquire and possess
  
• You must have liability insurance that covers personal injury and property damage in a lump sum of 1 million euros.
  
• You must provide evidence of the safe storage of weapons and ammunition.
  
  You must store weapons and ammunition safely. This generally means that only you, as the authorized person, may have access to weapons and ammunition. If you do not store your weapons and ammunition securely, you commit an administrative offense for which a fine of up to 10,000 EUR can be imposed. In addition, your reliability under weapons law may be called into question and your weapons possession card and weapons license may be revoked.
  
  When applying, you must provide information on both the storage location and the container in which you intend to store weapons and ammunition. The storage requirements are based on Section 13 of the General Weapons Act Ordinance (AWaffV). In case of doubt, please contact the authority responsible for you. In principle, you can orientate yourself on the following specifications:
  • Ammunition requiring a permit must be stored in a sheet steel cabinet/container with a swing bolt lock or an equivalent locking device.
  • To store long guns and handguns requiring a permit, you need a gun cabinet. The type of gun cabinet you need depends on the number and type of weapons and/or ammunition you wish to acquire and possess.
    • In a gun cabinet with resistance grade 0 according to the DIN/EN 1143-1 standard with a weight of up to 200 kilograms, you may store an unlimited number of long guns, up to 5 handguns and ammunition.
    • In a firearms cabinet with resistance grade 0 in accordance with the DIN/EN 1143-1 standard with a weight of over 200 kilograms, you may store an unlimited number of long guns, up to 10 handguns and ammunition.
    • In a gun cabinet with resistance grade I according to the DIN/EN 1143-1 standard, you may store an unlimited number of long guns and handguns as well as ammunition.
  • The following regulations apply in principle to the place where you may install the firearm cabinet:
    • If you live in a common household with another person who is also entitled to possess weapons, you may store the weapons in a common weapons cabinet.

• Identity card or passport (copy)
• Weapons possession card (if not applied for at the same time)
• Proof of a need (for example proof of danger to your person)
• Proof of liability insurance in the amount of 1 million euros (lump sum for personal injury and property damage)
• Examination certificate of special expertise
• Proof of storage (for example photo of lockable container)

• § 10 Ab. 4 Waffengesetz (WaffG)
• § 12 Abs. 3 Waffengesetz (WaffG)
• § 4 Waffengesetz (WaffG)
• § 36 Waffengesetz (WaffG)
• § 13 Allgemeine Waffengesetz-Verordnung (AWaffV)

To help you complete the application more quickly, you can use NWR Identification Numbers (NWR ID):

• Your PersonalNWR-ID (P- or F-NWR-ID) for the information about your person
• the permitNWR-ID for the weapons permit (E-NWR-ID)
• the weapons or parts of weapons NWR-ID (W- or T-NWR-ID).

You can obtain the NWR-IDs upon application to the responsible weapons authority.

02.07.2024

The text was automatically translated based on the German content.