Apply for a permit to acquire and possess weapons (yellow weapon possession card [WBK]) as an individual sport shooter

If you want to acquire and possess weapons and/or ammunition requiring a permit as a sport shooter, you must apply for a permit from the competent weapons authority. Basically, you always need a permit to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition.

In general, firearms are objects that are intended for attack or defence, signalling, hunting, distance injection, marking, sports or play and in which projectiles are driven through a barrel or in which solid objects are deliberately fired, the propulsion energy of which can be introduced by muscle power or another energy source and stored or held by a locking device (e.g. crossbows, Arrow launchers).

A distinction is made between firearms that require a permit and firearms that do not require a permit. In order to be allowed to carry firearms without a permit, you need a small firearms license (see further information). All weapons that are not alarm shot, irritant and signal weapons with PTB marks in a circle are counted as requiring a permit. A detailed list of the weapons for the acquisition and possession of which you need a weapon possession card can be found in Annex 2 of the Weapons Act.

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

In order to obtain permission to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition requiring a permit, you must:

• be of the appropriate age, and
• Your need
• Your Reliability in Weapons Law
• Your personal suitability
• Your expertise in handling weapons and ammunition as well as
• prove the safe storage of weapons and ammunition.

Age

If you are under 25 years of age, you may be asked by the competent weapons authority to consult a specialist or psychological specialist .

To submit an expert opinion/certificate of your mental fitness. You must pay for the report/certificate yourself and send the original by post to the responsible weapons authority (a copy or e-mail will not be accepted).

As a sport shooter, you must be at least 18 years old. Then you are entitled to purchase and possess firearms up to 5.6 mm caliber (.22 l.r.) for rimfire ammunition with a bullet muzzle energy of no more than 200 joules (J) and single-loader long guns with smooth barrels of 12 gauge or smaller.

For other firearms, the minimum age for sport shooters is 21 years, provided that you can present a medical or psychological report/certificate of your mental fitness. You must pay for the report/certificate yourself and send the original by post to the responsible weapons authority (a copy or e-mail will not be accepted).

Need

In order to be allowed to purchase and possess weapons and ammunition, you must provide the competent weapons authority with a credible reason (need). As a rule, a credible reason is recognized if you have been a member of a sports club for 1 year, which is a member of a recognized shooting sports association and in which shooting with such weapons is permitted according to an approved shooting sports regulations. The shooting sports regulations are approved by the Federal Office of Administration. You must also prove that you have participated in the training regularly (at least once a month or at least 18 times within a year).

Reliability under weapons law

Among other things, you can be considered reliable under weapons law:

1. if you have not been sentenced to at least 1 year's imprisonment within the last 10 years and have not been a member of or supported a banned organisation in the last 10 years.
2. if it cannot be assumed that you are misusing or improperly handling weapons or ammunition, do not keep these items carefully or leave them to persons who are not authorized to do so.
3. if you have not been in preventive police custody more than once in the last 5 years with judicial approval for violence.
4. if you have not repeatedly or grossly violated the gun law. 

Personal suitability

You can be assessed as personally unsuitable, among other things, if:

1. You are legally incapacitated.
2. You are addicted to alcohol or other intoxicating substances, mentally ill or debilitated.
3. You suffer from serious illnesses, such as brain injuries, or physical impairments, such as amputations or severe visual impairment.
4. it can be assumed that you cannot handle weapons or ammunition carefully or appropriately or that you cannot store these items carefully or that there is a concrete risk that you will endanger others or yourself.

Ability

In order to be allowed to purchase and own weapons and ammunition, you must prove that you can handle them appropriately. In order to gain expertise in the handling of weapons and ammunition, you must take part in a corresponding course. The course includes a theoretical and practical part. At the end of the course, you will take an exam in front of an authorized examination board. If you have passed the exam, you will receive proof of the weapons and ammunition for which you have acquired the expertise. You can also obtain the expertise only for the weapons and ammunition that you want to acquire and own.

You do not have to take a separate competence test if you

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

In these cases, you only need to provide appropriate evidence.

Safekeeping

You need to keep weapons and ammunition safe. In general, this means that only you as an authorized person have access to weapons and ammunition, for example by carrying the key with you at all times. If you do not keep your weapons and ammunition safe, you are committing an administrative offence for which a fine of up to 10,000 euros can be imposed. In addition, this can cast doubt on your reliability under weapons law and your weapon possession card may be withdrawn.

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

• Ammunition requiring a permit must be stored in a sheet steel cabinet/container with a swivel bolt lock.
• In order to store long guns and handguns requiring a permit as well as ammunition requiring a permit, you need a gun safe. The gun cabinet you need depends on the number and type of weapons and/or ammunition you want to purchase and own.
  • In a gun safe with resistance level 0 according to EN 1143-1 with a weight of up to 200 kilograms, you can store an unlimited number of long guns, up to 5 handguns and ammunition.
  • In a gun cabinet with resistance level 0 according to EN 1143-1 with a weight of over 200 kilograms, you can store an unlimited number of long guns, up to 10 handguns and ammunition.
  • In a gun cabinet with resistance level 1 according to EN 1143-1, you can store an unlimited number of long guns and handguns as well as ammunition.
• The following regulations apply to the place where you are allowed to place the gun safe:
  • If you live in an apartment building, it is not allowed to set up the gun cabinet in the basement if each resident only has a so-called cellar shed, which is only secured with a door with a padlock.
  • You are allowed to store up to 3 long guns even in buildings that are not permanently inhabited, such as a hunting lodge or a weekend house. For this, however, you need to store a gun cabinet with resistance level 1.
  • If you live in the same household with another gun owner, you may store the weapons in a common gun cabinet.
• It is also allowed to store weapons and ammunition at an arms dealer. You must provide appropriate proof of this.