The bloody deed in Hamburg has brought gun rights into focus. It has been repeatedly changed in the past like hardly any other German law.
Hamburg – The Bloody deed in Hamburgthe Raid against Reich citizens or the Riots on New Year’s Eve: Interior Minister Nancy Faser (SPD) had already presented a draft bill for the tightening of German gun law in January 2023. An overview of what is currently in the law:
What has been the gun law so far?
Gun law has existed in its current form since 2003 and was last tightened in 2020. Owning a firearm requires either a gun owner’s license or a gun license. Carrying weapons outside of your own home or property is only permitted if you have a firearms license.
The gun license is subject to strict requirements. The granting of a criminal record or membership in a banned or anti-constitutional organization is excluded. A so-called small gun license is required for alarm guns, irritant gas guns and signal guns.
What additional bans and restrictions is Faeser planning?
The interior minister wants to completely ban semi-automatic weapons, which are similar to weapons of war, for private individuals. This is justified in the draft bill with the fact that these were “particularly attractive” to perpetrators who wanted to commit acts of terrorism or amok.
The so-called small gun license should also be required for owning a crossbow in the future. For them, the draft cites a high level of effectiveness and thus danger as the reason for the restriction and points out that right-wing extremists in particular use the previous legal loophole to procure these weapons.
What should change with blank guns?
Faeser now also wants to prescribe a small firearms license for the purchase and possession of alarm guns. Previously, this was only necessary if the weapon was carried outside one’s own house or property. Blank firearms do not fire projectiles, but they do, for example, fire blank cartridges or pyrotechnic ammunition. The police union points out that they too can cause “serious injuries” – if, for example, the head area is aimed directly.
How should control be improved?
A regular check of the reliability of gun owners, including information from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, has already been in place up to now. In the future, when a gun license is issued, inquiries will also be made to the police departments of the residences of the last five years and other authorities. In addition, in future there will be a general obligation to present a medical or psychological certificate when a license to purchase a firearm is granted for the first time.
What does the coalition agreement say?
In the coalition agreement had SPD, Green and FDP agreed to “consistently disarm” terrorists and extremists. For this purpose, the previous changes in the gun law should be evaluated and “existing control options” should be made more effective. (AFP/frs)
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