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Firearms license; application

If you want to carry a firearm in public, you must first apply for a firearms license.

Description

If you have a weapon outside

your own home
your own business premises
your own contented property (for example your own garden) or
a shooting range

outside your own home, business premises (e.g. your own garden or a shooting range), you must have a permit (weapons license). Exceptions apply in the cases specified in Section 12, Paragraph 3 of the Weapons Act (e.g. transport of weapons on the way to and from hunting or shooting ranges that are not ready for firing or access). If you only want to carry alarm, irritant or signal weapons with PTB approval marks in public, you only need a small firearms license (see under "Related topics"), the issuance of which is subject to less stringent requirements.

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

If you carry the weapon with you, you must have the firearms license with you and be able to identify yourself with an identity card or passport.

You will receive the firearms license for a maximum of 3 years. You can have the firearms license renewed twice for a maximum of 3 years.

You may be denied the firearms license if you have not resided in Germany within the last 5 years.

If you move to another city or municipality, you do not have to have the firearms license rewritten.

If you handle weapons and ammunition without a required weapons permit, you may face a fine or imprisonment.

Prerequisites

You must be at least 18 years old.
You must have a valid permit for the acquisition and possession of a weapon (e.g. weapons possession card) or apply for this at the same time as the weapons license.
You must prove that it is necessary for you to carry weapons in public (need).

In order to be allowed to carry weapons in public, you must provide a credible reason to the responsible weapons authority. As a rule, a credible reason is only recognized if you can prove that you are significantly more endangered than the general public and that carrying firearms in public is suitable and necessary to reduce this endangerment.

You must be reliable under firearms law.

You may be judged unreliable under firearms law if, among other things
- you have been legally sentenced to a prison term of at least one year within the last 10 years or have been a member of or supported a prohibited organization within the last 10 years.
- it can be assumed that you misuse or improperly handle weapons or ammunition, do not store these items carefully or hand them over to persons who are not authorized to do so.
- you have been in preventive police custody more than once in the last 5 years with judicial authorization due to violence.
- You have repeatedly or grossly violated the weapons law.
You must be personally suitable.

You may be judged to be personally unsuitable if, among other things.
- You are legally incompetent.
- You are addicted to alcohol or other intoxicating substances, mentally ill, or debilitated.
- You suffer from serious illnesses, such as brain injuries, or physical impairments, such as amputations or severe visual impairment.
- it can be assumed that you are not able to handle weapons or ammunition carefully or properly or that there is a concrete danger that you will endanger others or yourself.
You must prove that you have sufficient knowledge of weapons and ammunition and how to handle them (expert knowledge).

To be able to prove expert knowledge in handling weapons and ammunition, you must have taken part in an appropriate training course. The course comprises a theoretical and practical part. At the end of the course, you will take an examination before an authorized examination board. If you have passed the examination, you will receive a certificate for which weapons and ammunition you have acquired the expertise.
You must have liability insurance covering personal injury and property damage in a lump sum of 1 million euros.
You must provide proof of safe storage of weapons and ammunition.

You must store weapons and ammunition safely. This generally means that only you, as the authorized person, may have access to weapons and ammunition. If you do not store your weapons and ammunition securely, you commit an administrative offense for which a fine of up to 10,000 EUR can be imposed. In addition, your reliability under weapons law may be called into question and your weapons possession card and weapons license may be revoked.

When applying, you must provide information on both the storage location and the container in which you intend to store weapons and ammunition. The storage requirements are based on Section 13 of the General Weapons Act Ordinance (AWaffV). In case of doubt, please contact the authority responsible for you. Basically, you can orientate yourself on the following requirements:

Ammunition requiring a permit must be stored in a sheet steel cabinet/container with a swing bolt lock or an equivalent locking device.
Ammunition requiring a permit must be stored in a sheet steel cabinet/container with a swing bolt lock or an equivalent locking device.
To store long guns and handguns requiring a permit, you need a gun cabinet. The type of gun cabinet you need depends on the number and type of weapons and/or ammunition you wish to acquire and possess.
- In a gun cabinet with resistance grade 0 according to the DIN/EN 1143-1 standard 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 firearms cabinet with resistance grade 0 in accordance with the DIN/EN 1143-1 standard 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 grade I according to the DIN/EN 1143-1 standard, you may store an unlimited number of long guns and handguns as well as ammunition.
The following regulations apply in principle to the place where you are allowed to place the weapons cabinet:
- If you live in a common household with another person who is also entitled to possess weapons, you may store the weapons in a common weapons cabinet.

Procedure

You must apply for the firearms license at the competent firearms authority. Submit the application together with the required documents.

The firearms authority will issue you with the firearms license if you meet the necessary requirements.

Special notes

To help you complete the application more quickly, you can use NWR Identification Numbers (NWR ID):

Your PersonalNWR-ID (P- or F-NWR-ID) for the information about your person
the permitNWR-ID for the weapons permit (E-NWR-ID)
the weapons or parts of weapons NWR-ID (W- or T-NWR-ID).

You can obtain the NWR IDs on application to the relevant weapons authority.

Deadlines

none

Required documents

The following documents are required:
- Identity card or passport (copy)
- Weapons possession card (if not applied for at the same time)
- Proof of a need (for example proof of danger to your person)
- Proof of liability insurance in the amount of 1 million euros (lump sum for personal injury and property damage)
- Examination certificate of special expertise
- Proof of storage (for example photo of lockable container)

Online procedures

Regional complement (Landeshauptstadt München)

Kleinen Waffenschein beantragen
Zum Führen von Gas-, Schreckschuss- und Signalwaffen in der Öffentlichkeit, brauchen Sie einen Kleinen Waffenschein. Sie können ihn online beantragen.