In Austria, the perpetrator of the Munich attack was banned from carrying weapons. Nevertheless, he still managed to get his hands on a repeating rifle. A blind spot in Austrian gun laws.
Munich – Emrah I fired nine to ten shots at the Israeli Consulate General in Munich. His rifle: According to initial reports from the police, it was an “older long gun”. Videos from the Act in front of the NS Documentation Center you can see it, a wooden repeating rifle with bayonet.
Murder weapon probably bought in Salzburg: 18-year-old from Austria shot in Munich with World War II rifle
How does an 18-year-old from Austria get a World War II weapon? More and more details are becoming known about the perpetrator and the weapon used in the Munich attack. On the one hand, the Picturethe seller reported to the police. Only one day before the crime in Munich, the gun is said to have changed hands in Salzburg. When asked by IPPEN.MEDIA The Attorney General’s Office cannot confirm this information, but does not want to deny it either.
On the other hand, the Austrian news agency APA reports that the Salzburg public prosecutor’s office had already issued a weapons ban for the Munich shooter in 2023. The reason was his alleged proximity to the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS). Although the proceedings for membership of a terrorist organization were dropped, the weapons ban was in effect until 2028, according to the report.
Munich perpetrator got a repeating rifle despite weapons ban – such weapons are freely available for sale in Austria
Nevertheless, Emrah I. was able to get hold of the repeating rifle in Austria and used it to shoot in Munich. Such rifles fall into weapon category C in Austria, meaning they can be sold freely and only have to be registered after a six-week period. People aged 18 and over do not need a permit to purchase them, they just need to show a photo ID to prove their age. For many long guns in Austria, neither a gun ownership card nor a gun pass is required.
But: “He could not legally acquire the weapon,” says Viennese lawyer and gun law expert Prof. Andreas Rippel at IPPEN.MEDIA Rippel is also president of the “Interest Group for Liberal Gun Laws in Austria” (IWÖ).
What are Category C weapons in Austria?
Rifles with at least one rifled barrel that must be manually reloaded after each shot.
Rifles with only smooth barrels that have to be reloaded manually after each shot.
The following exceptions apply: Pump-action shotgun = Category A and repeating shotgun = Category B.
Source: Information and services of the Austrian administration.
Munich shooter circumvented gun ban in Austria – private purchases are not checked
The Munich shooter “did not act in accordance with the law” when purchasing the weapon. This would have been noticed even if he had bought it from a specialist gun dealer. Specialist dealers are obliged to check for a possible gun ban. Customers are only given the weapon after it has been checked and a three-day “cooling off period”.
These control mechanisms do not apply to private purchases, as was apparently the case with Emrah I. “If you buy from a private individual, it is not checked,” explains Rippel, private individuals cannot do that. There is also no cooling-off period. The buyer is only obliged to register the weapon within a period of six weeks. A lot of time without control.
Murder weapon bought privately in Austria, then the shooter drove to Munich
So is a gun ban in Austria ultimately obsolete? Not entirely. “It will be noticed when the new buyer is registered,” says Rippel. Then the police confiscate the weapon again.
In addition, the seller can and should report the change of ownership to the authorities. “It’s in their own interest,” stresses Rippel. The incident in Munich shows what can happen in the worst case scenario. But if the previous owner doesn’t mind, the authorities won’t find out for the time being. Private purchases in Austria thus represent a blind spot in gun laws.
Just one day after he bought the repeating rifle in Salzburg, Emrah I reportedly drove to Munich and fired. The six-week registration requirement was far from over. Illegal weapons are not an exclusively Austrian phenomenon, unfortunately they exist everywhere, notes IWÖ President Rippel. (moe)
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