As of: January 29, 2024 12:30 p.m
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, more and more people have small firearms licenses. The police union called the trend worrying.
The number of registered small gun licenses has increased again. By the end of 2023, 14,145 were recorded in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. That’s 850 more than last year. The number has been rising for years; six years ago there were still around 9,000 weapons in this category in circulation. The police union (GdP) is concerned about the increasing trend towards irritant gas, blank firing and signal weapons. Your state chairman Christian Schumacher sees the increase as evidence of more fear among the population. In an interview with NDR MV Live, Schumacher points out the need for an efficient police force to ensure the safety of the population.
Regulations for small firearms licenses
The small firearms license is necessary in order to be able to carry blank, irritant or signal weapons loaded outside of your own home or property. Anyone who takes it without permission risks being reported and having the weapon confiscated. It is not necessary to purchase such weapons.
Anyone who is over 18 and has the necessary “reliability and personal suitability” can apply for a small firearms license. This means that the responsible authorities check whether the person has a criminal record, belongs to a banned club, has a permanent address or has become conspicuous due to alcohol and medication addiction. There is no need to explain why you want a firearms license or training in how to use the weapon. Fees start at around 50 euros to issue a small firearms license.
Even with this permit, blank firearms may not be taken to events such as concerts or to celebrate in the club.
Issue subject to conditions
Carrying irritating gas, blank firing and signal weapons in public is prohibited in Germany without a small firearms license. To get a small firearms license, you have to be 18 years old and can then apply for the license for a fee at the responsible public order office. According to the weapons law, applicants must have the necessary reliability and be personally suitable. Among other things, they must not have been legally convicted or be suspected of misusing weapons or ammunition or even belonging to an anti-constitutional party. In addition, they must be legally competent and not addicted to alcohol or drugs or mentally ill.
The district where the small firearms license can be applied for usually obtains information from the police, the public prosecutor’s office and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In a gun shop, however, anyone interested in buying a blank firearm only has to prove to the dealer that they are 18 years old. As long as he just keeps the gun at home, it doesn’t have to be registered.
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Danger of blank firearms
There are studies, including from the Institute for Forensic Medicine at the Free University of Berlin, that show that blank guns can cause serious damage, especially if they are fired very close to the body. Then they can also break through bones and even be fatal. Incidentally, it is not recorded who exactly applies for firearms licenses and for what reasons. The police union points out that police officers who are called to operations have to decide in seconds how to react if someone has drawn a weapon. No one can quickly see what kind of weapon it is. Especially when it comes to blank firing weapons, there is hardly any difference between them and a real weapon.
Gun ownership card and gun license
The weapon ownership card regulates the ownership of the weapon. The authority enters the firearms that the card holder is allowed to own on the weapon ownership card. The owners are usually sport shooters, hunters, gun collectors or heirs to guns.
The firearms license, on the other hand, entitles a person to actually carry the weapon. With a firearms license you can carry the weapon with you in everyday life under certain conditions. There is also the so-called small firearms license. It entitles the owner to carry, among other things, signal weapons or blank-firing weapons.
Further information
The MV Interior Minister can imagine a tightening of gun laws after the attack on members of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg. more
The number has decreased. Interior Minister Behrens advocates lower hurdles for confiscating weapons. more
This topic in the program:
NDR 1 Radio MV | News from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 01/29/2024 | 12:00 o’clock