Gun control in Germany

In Germany, access to guns is controlled by the German Weapons Act (German: Waffengesetz), which adheres to the European Firearms Directive and was first enacted in 1972, and superseded by the law of 2003. This federal statute regulates the handling of firearms and ammunition as well as acquisition, storage, commerce and maintenance of firearms.

In a debate on stricter gun control after a school shooting that resulted in 16 deaths, German weapons expert Holger Soschinka asserted that "Germany has one of the strictest weapons laws worldwide - and it is sufficient". However, others criticized it as too lax and argued that more control is needed, with one anti-weapons group describing the law as "unconstitutional" because it "puts the interests of sport shooters above peoples' right to life and physical integrity".

While gun ownership is widespread, and associations and ranges for shooting sports and the use of historical guns and weapons in festivals are not forbidden, the use of guns for private self-defence is restricted.

The German Ministry of the Interior estimated in 2009 that the number of firearms in circulation, legally and illegally, could be up to 45 million. 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 Schützenvereinen ("voluntary shooting sport associations") 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.

The Ewige Landfriede (Perpetual Public Peace) ruling of 1495 banned the medieval right of vendetta (Fehderecht) in the Holy Roman Empire (which encompassed most of what is modern Germany). It passed at the Diet of Worms and was enacted by the German king and emperor Maximilian I. In the Holy Roman Empire claims were henceforth no longer to be decided in battle, but through 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, possession of guns and weapons was not generally restricted, but regulations about carrying arms in public came into use.

The general disarming of citizens and a generic gun law was imposed by the Allies after World War I. The law was introduced by the Weimar Republic; actual enforcement was not stringent, and there was no general disarmament immediately after the war. After incidents including the 1920 Kapp Putsch and the 1922 assassination of Walther Rathenau, the law was enforced more strictly. The Weimar Republic saw various Freikorps and paramilitary forces like the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold, Der Stahlhelm and the Nazi SA.

The requirement for trustworthiness of the owner and need for the special purpose of the user (e.g. hunting, sport or self-defence) has been included in German gun laws since then.

The Treaty of Versailles included firearm reducing stipulations. Article 169 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." Article 177 further banned all civilian use of firearms, any civilian instruction on their use, and any civilian shooting exercises activity, especially banning all organizations or associations from taking part in any such use and/or activity or allowing it to happen, in order to crush down on perceived Prussian militarism of the German people in general.