Gun laws in the Czech Republic adhere to the European Firearms Directive. Legal accessibility is comparable to those EU and EFTA countries which consider firearms to be primarily tools of individual or collective safety (i.e. Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Baltic states, Finland) and not just sporting instruments (see Gun laws in the European Union).

Right to keep and bear arms is considered to be an attribute of liberty in the country. It is explicitly recognized in the first Article of the Firearms Act. At the constitutional level, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms protects the "right to defend one's own life or life of another person also with arms under conditions stipulated by law".

Firearms are available to any resident subject to acquiring a firearms license. Firearm licenses may be obtained in a way similar to a driving license; by passing a proficiency exam (in Czech language only), medical examination and having no criminal record. Unlike in most other European countries, Czech firearms legislation also permits citizens to carry concealed weapons for self-defense; 260,027 out of 316,859 gun license holders have a concealed carry license (31 December 2023). The most common reason for firearm possession by Czech gun owners is protection, with hunting and sport shooting being less common. Additionally, people can join government endorsed advanced shooting training courses with their privately owned firearms and become members of the militia-style Designated Reserves.

The beginnings of Czech civilian firearms possession date back to 1421, with the first use of firearms as the primary weapons of the Hussites (see History of Czech civilian firearms possession). Firearms became indispensable tools for the mostly-commoner militia in a war for religious freedom and political independence. Firearms possession became common throughout and after the Hussite wars. The universal right to keep arms for "all people of all standing" was formally affirmed in the 1517 St. Wenceslaus Agreement [cs]. Throughout its 600-year history, Czech firearms legislation remained permissive, with the exception of the periods of German Nazi occupation and of the Communist regime.

The English term pistol originated in 15th-century Czech language. Mariánská skála in Ústí nad Labem is Europe's oldest continually-open shooting range, established in 1617.

History of Czech civilian firearms possession extends over 600 years back, when local militia became the first force whose military strategy and tactics depended on mass use of firearms in battlefield warfare during the 1419 - 1434 Hussite wars.

In 1419, the Hussite revolt against Catholic church and Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor started. The ensuing Hussite wars over religious freedom and political independence represented a clash between professional Crusader armies from all around Europe, relying mostly on standard medieval tactics and cold weapons, and primarily commoners' militia-based Czech forces which relied on use of firearms. First serving as auxiliary weapons, firearms gradually became indispensable for the Hussite armies.

1421 marks a symbolical beginning of the Czech civilian firearms possession due to two developments: enactment of formal duty of all inhabitants to obey call to arms by provisional elected Government in order to defend the country and first battle in which Hussite Taborite militia employed firearms as the main weapons of attack.