Permission to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition Issue of weapons possession card for hunting associations

If you, as a hunting association, wish to acquire and possess weapons and/or ammunition that require a permit, you must apply for a permit from the relevant weapons authority. In principle, you always need a permit to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition.

In general, firearms are objects that are intended for attack or defense, signaling, hunting, distance injection, marking, sports or games and in which projectiles are propelled through a barrel or in which solid bodies are fired in a targeted manner, the propelling energy of which is provided by muscle power or another energy source and can be stored or held by a locking device (e.g. crossbows, arrow launchers).

A distinction is made between firearms that require a permit and those that do not. To be allowed to carry unlicensed firearms, you need a small firearms license (see further information). All weapons that are not alarm, irritant and signal weapons with a PTB mark in the circle are classified as weapons requiring a permit. You will find a detailed list of weapons for which you require a weapons possession card in Annex 2 of the Weapons Act.

You must nominate a responsible person who must be reliable and personally suitable in terms of weapons law and who can provide evidence of the necessary expertise. This person does not have to be authorized to represent the company, i.e. not a member of the board of directors, for example. If the responsible person leaves the hunting association, you must inform the competent authority immediately and appoint a new responsible person within 2 weeks. Otherwise, the competent authority will revoke your permit to purchase and possess weapons (weapons possession card).

It is recommended that you inform yourself in detail about the regulations of firearms law before submitting your application.

In order to obtain permission to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition requiring a permit, you must be registered as a hunting association in the register of associations and provide evidence of the safe storage of weapons and ammunition. The responsible person appointed by you must

• be of the appropriate age and
• their reliability under firearms law,
• their personal suitability and
• their expertise in handling weapons and ammunition.

Responsible person

Age

The responsible person must be at least 25 years old.

Reliability under firearms law

The person responsible can be deemed reliable under firearms law if, among other things

1. if they have not been sentenced to a prison term of at least 1 year within the last 10 years and have not been a member of or supported a prohibited organization in the last 10 years.
2. if it cannot be assumed that they misuse weapons or ammunition or handle them improperly, do not store these items carefully or hand them over to persons who are not authorized to do so.
3. if they have not been in preventive police custody more than once in the last 5 years with judicial authorization due to violence.
4. if they have not repeatedly or grossly violated firearms legislation.

Personal suitability

The person responsible may be deemed personally unsuitable if, among other things

1. they are legally incompetent.
2. they are dependent on alcohol or other intoxicating substances, mentally ill or mentally retarded.
3. they suffer from serious illnesses, such as brain injuries, or physical impairments, such as amputations or severe visual impairment.
4. it can be assumed that they cannot handle weapons or ammunition carefully or properly or cannot store these objects carefully or that there is a concrete danger that they will endanger others or themselves.

Expertise

The responsible person must prove that they are able to handle weapons and ammunition appropriately. In order to obtain the certificate of competence in handling weapons and ammunition, they must take part in an appropriate training course. The course comprises a theoretical and practical part. At the end of the course, an examination is taken before an authorized examination board. If the examination is passed, the responsible person receives proof of the weapons and ammunition for which the certificate of competence has been acquired. The responsible person can also only obtain the certificate of competence for the weapons and ammunition that they wish to acquire and possess as a hunting association.

The responsible person does not have to take a separate proficiency test if they

• the hunting examination or an equivalent examination or
• has passed a journeyman's examination for the gunsmith's trade or
• has worked full-time in the firearms and ammunition trade for at least 3 years.

In these cases, only suitable evidence must be submitted.

Safe storage

You must store firearms and ammunition securely. This generally means that only the person responsible has access to weapons and ammunition, for example by carrying the key with them at all times or keeping it safe in some other way. If you do not store your weapons and ammunition securely, you are committing an administrative offense for which a fine of up to 10,000 euros can be imposed. In addition, this may cast doubt on the reliability of the person responsible under firearms law and, as a hunting association, your firearms possession card may be withdrawn.

When submitting your application, you must provide information about the storage location and the container in which you wish to store weapons and ammunition. In principle, you can use the following guidelines as a guide:

• You must store ammunition requiring a permit in a sheet steel cabinet/container with a swing bolt lock.
• You need a gun cabinet to store long guns and handguns that require a permit as well as ammunition that requires a permit. The type of gun cabinet you need depends on the number and type of weapons and/or ammunition you wish to purchase and own.
  • You may store an unlimited number of long guns, up to 5 handguns and ammunition in a gun cabinet with resistance grade 0 in accordance with EN 1143-1 weighing up to 200 kilograms.
  • You may store an unlimited number of long weapons, up to 10 short weapons and ammunition in a gun cabinet with resistance grade 0 in accordance with EN 1143-1 weighing over 200 kilograms.
  • You may store an unlimited number of long weapons and handguns as well as ammunition in a gun cabinet with resistance grade 1 in accordance with EN 1143-1.
• The following regulations generally apply to the location where you may set up the gun cabinet:
  • If you live in an apartment building, it is not permitted to place the gun cabinet in the cellar if each resident only has a so-called cellar locker that is only secured by a door with a padlock.
  • You may also store up to 3 long guns in buildings that are not permanently inhabited, such as a hunting lodge or a weekend house. However, you need a gun cabinet with resistance grade 1 for this.
  • If you live in a shared household with another gun owner, you may store the guns in a shared gun cabinet.
• As a hunter, you may also allow another hunter to temporarily store your long guns in their gun cabinet. However, this period should be limited; permanent storage is not permitted. For permanent storage, you should purchase your own gun cabinet to which only you have access.
• It is also permitted to store weapons and ammunition at a gun dealer. You must provide appropriate proof of this.