- You must be at least 18 years old.
For sport shooters applies
- a minimum age of 18 years for the purchase of
- firearms up to a caliber of 5.6 mm lfB (.22 l.r.) for rimfire ammunition, if the muzzle energy of the projectiles is 200 joules or less, and
- single-shot long guns with smooth-bore barrels of caliber 12 or smaller, provided that sport shooting with such weapons is permitted by the approved sporting regulations of a shooting sports association (Section 14 (1) Sentence 2 WaffG);
- a minimum age of 21 years for other (large caliber) firearms.
If you are under 25 years of age, you will be requested by the competent firearms authority to submit a specialist medical or specialist psychological report/testimonial on your mental fitness. You must pay for the expert opinion/testimony yourself and send the original to the competent firearms authority by mail.
The obligation to submit an expert opinion/certificate on mental fitness does not apply to hunters or to sport shooters who wish to acquire only the weapons specified in Section 14, Paragraph 1, Sentence 2 of the Weapons Act.
- You must prove that you have a particularly recognizable personal or economic interest in acquiring and possessing weapons and ammunition (need).Such an interest is generally recognized if
- you are a hunter and can credibly demonstrate that you need the firearms and ammunition to hunt.
- You have been a member of a sports club that is a member of a recognized shooting sports association for one year and the firearm to be purchased is approved for a sports discipline in accordance with the shooting sports association's sports regulations. In addition, you must prove that you have practiced the shooting sport regularly in the past twelve months (at least once a month or at least 18 times within a year).
- Your life is in great danger.
- You can credibly demonstrate other reasons why you want to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition.
- You must be reliable in terms of weapons law.
You may be deemed unreliable under weapons law if, among other things
- you have been legally sentenced to a prison term of at least one year within the last 10 years or have been a member of or supported a prohibited organization within the last 10 years.
- it can 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.
- you have been in preventive police custody more than once in the last 5 years with judicial authorization due to violence.
- You have repeatedly or grossly violated the weapons law.
- You must be personally suitable.
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 prove that you have sufficient knowledge about weapons and ammunition and how to handle them (expert knowledge).
In order to be able to prove your expertise in handling weapons and ammunition, you must have taken part in a corresponding course. The course comprises 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 examination, 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 can also prove your expert knowledge by passing a hunter's examination.
- You must prove that you can safely store weapons and ammunition.
This generally means that only you, as an authorized person, may have access to weapons and ammunition. If you do not store your weapons and ammunition safely, 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 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:
- You must store ammunition requiring a permit 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. Which 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 to the location where you may install the firearm cabinet:
- You may store up to three long guns even in buildings that are not permanently inhabited, such as a hunting lodge or a weekend house. For this, however, you need a weapons cabinet with resistance grade I.
- If you live in the same household as another person who is also entitled to possess weapons, you may store the weapons in a joint weapons cabinet.
- It is also permitted to store weapons and ammunition with a weapons dealer. You must provide appropriate proof of this.
