Apply for permission to acquire and possess weapons (weapon possession card [WBK]) as shooting sports clubs

If you, as a shooting sports club, want to acquire and possess weapons and/or ammunition that require a permit, you must apply for a permit from the responsible weapons authority. Basically, you always need a permit to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition.

In general, firearms are objects intended for attack or defence, signalling, hunting, distance injection, marking, sport or play and in which projectiles are driven through a barrel or in which solid bodies are fired in a targeted manner, the propulsive energy of which can be introduced by muscle power or another source of energy 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 signs in a circle are counted as requiring a permit. A detailed list of the weapons for which you need a weapon possession card can be found in Annex 2 of the Weapons Act.

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

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

In order to obtain permission to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition requiring a permit, you as a club must be a member of a recognized shooting sports association and be entered in the register of associations as well as prove the safe storage of weapons and ammunition. The responsible person designated by you must:

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

Responsible person

Age

If the responsible person is under 25 years of age, he or she may be asked by the competent weapons authority to submit a specialist medical or psychological report/certificate of mental fitness. The responsible person must pay for the expert opinion/certificate himself and send the original by post to the responsible weapons authority (a copy or e-mail will not be recognized).

As a sports shooter, you must be at least 18 years old. Then you are entitled to acquire and possess firearms up to caliber 5.6 mm lfB (.22 l. r.) for rimfire ammunition with a muzzle energy of the projectiles not exceeding 200 joules (J) and single-shot long guns with smooth bores with caliber 12 or smaller.

For other firearms, the minimum age for sport shooters is 21 years, provided that you can present a specialist or psychological report/certificate of your mental fitness.

Reliability under weapons law

Among other things, the responsible person can be assessed as reliable under weapons law,

1. if he or she has not been sentenced to imprisonment of at least 1 year within the last 10 years and has not been a member of or supported a banned organization in the last 10 years.
2. if it cannot be assumed that it misuses or improperly handles weapons or ammunition, does not store these items carefully or leaves them to persons who are not authorized to do so.
3. if she has not been in preventive police custody more than once in the last 5 years with judicial authorization for violent acts.
4. if she has not repeatedly or grossly violated the weapons law.

Personal suitability

The responsible person can be assessed as personally unsuitable, among other things, if:

1. it is legally incapacitated.
2. she is addicted to alcohol or other intoxicating substances, mentally ill or debilitated.
3. she suffers from serious illnesses, such as brain injuries, or physical impairments, such as amputations or severe visual impairment.
4. it can be assumed that he or she is unable to handle weapons or ammunition carefully or to store such items carefully, or that there is a concrete risk that he or she will endanger others or herself.

Ability

The responsible person must prove that he or she can handle weapons and ammunition appropriately. In order to gain the expertise in dealing with weapons and ammunition, she must take part in an appropriate course. The course includes a theoretical and practical part. At the end of the course, an examination is taken in front of an authorized examination board. If the test has been passed, the responsible person receives proof of the weapons and ammunition for which the expertise has been acquired. The responsible person can also obtain the expertise only for the weapons and ammunition that you would like to acquire and own as a shooting sports club.

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

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

In these cases, only appropriate evidence must be provided.

Safekeeping

You need to keep weapons and ammunition safe. In general, this means that only the person responsible has access to weapons and ammunition, for example by carrying the key with him at all times or otherwise keeping it safe. 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, the reliability of the responsible person under weapons law can be called into question and your weapon possession card can be withdrawn as a shooting sports club.

When applying, you must provide information on both the location and the container in which you intend 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 that require a permit as well as ammunition that require a permit, you need a gun safe. Which 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 may store an unlimited number of long guns, up to 5 handguns and ammunition.
  • In a gun safe with resistance level 0 according to EN 1143-1 with a weight of over 200 kilograms, you may 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 may store an unlimited number of long guns and handguns as well as ammunition. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
• For the place where you are allowed to set up the gun safe, the following regulations apply in principle:
  • If you live in an apartment building, it is not allowed to place the gun cabinet in the basement if each resident has only a so-called basement shed, which is secured only with a door with a padlock.
  • You are allowed to store up to 3 long guns even in non-permanently inhabited buildings, such as a hunting lodge or a weekend house. For this, however, you need a gun safe with resistance level 1.
  • If you live in the same household with another gun owner, you may store the guns in a shared gun safe.
• It is also allowed to store weapons and ammunition at an arms dealer. You must provide appropriate proof of this.