One important update since I last wrote is that M took his Jagdkurs (hunting class) in Saarland as Germany started slowly emerging from the Covid-19 lockdown and passed the whole test on his first go. He applied for his Jagdschein (hunting license) four weeks ago and we're hoping he'll have it sometime in August. If I pass my gun handling & shooting re-take at the end of this month, I'll be able to apply for mine as well.
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| near Nonnweiler, Saarland |
How does one go about getting a gun in Germany?
In order to be issued a Waffenbesitzkarte (gun license) in Germany I have to first earn a Jagdschein (hunting license). In order to earn a Jagdschein I have to pass the Jägerprüfung (hunting test). And before I can take the test I have to successfully complete a hunting class.
In order to register to take the Jägerprüfung (hunting test) I needed:
- Proof of having successfully completed a Jagdkurs (hunting class - ca. 170 hours)
- €350 (for the test - the class costs €2000 - €2500)
The prerequisites for getting a Jagdschein are:
- Zeugnis (certificate showing I passed the hunting test)
- Jagdhaftpflichtversicherung (liability insurance for hunters, €1 million minimum)
- €€ and Passfoto
- Extended background check (state does this behind the scenes)
In order to get a Waffenbesitzkarte (gun license) I need to prove or provide:
- Zuverlässigkeit (responsibility / trustworthiness)
- Persönliche Eignung (mental & physical aptitude)
- Sachkunde (knowledge - proven by hunting test certificate)
- Bedürfnis (need - proven by possession of a hunting license*)
*other legitimate reasons: you are a sport shooter or work in security - Minimum of 18 years old
- Another extended background check
In case that wasn't clear yet, in Germany you cannot buy a gun just because you want one or because you think you need to "protect your family" from some unknown threat. There is no second amendment in Germany and owning a gun is a privilege, not a right.
One of the things the Bundesverfassungsschutz (German FBI) checks for in the extended background check is that the applicant is not a Reichsbürger or connected to extremist groups.
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| M is using our Schießtrainer's Heym SR-21 (cal. .308). This is the rifle I have ordered. |
Since M passed his test and has applied for his Jagdschein and I am hopeful of following suit in two weeks, we have ordered two Büchsen (rifles) from the German company Heym. In my case that's a bit like ordering a car before you've passed your driver's test, but we've got a good trainer and I am confident.
In order to legally have guns in the house, we needed to first purchase a Waffenschrank (gun safe). There are strict regulations concerning the resistance grade of the safe, these laws having changed after the school shooting in Winnenden in 2009, in which a 17-year-old got access to his father's guns and killed 15 people.
Once I have my rifle, it must be stored when not in use in this safe and unloaded. Not under the bed, not behind the sofa, not in a closet. At home I can have it out (unloaded!) to clean it or to pack it into a Futteral (locked gun case) to take it to the Schießstand, the Büchsenmacher (gun smith) or to a hunt. It may never be loaded in the house, and it may not be loaded while transporting it in the car. If my Revier (hunting ground) is within walking distance of my house, I still may not load it until I reach the Revier. As our Schießtrainer explained it, our guns are for hunting only and the gun may only be loaded when I am actively engaged in a hunting-related activity.
Who's to know if we keep our gun behind the sofa or if they're loaded? The authorities can show up at any time to check how our guns are being stored. (In Germany there is a national gun registry.) They know how many and which guns we have, and if I show them the safe and one is missing, I have to answer for where it is. If only M has the Jagdschein and WBK, only he may know the combination. If the authorities show up to check and I open the safe for them without having a Jagdschein/WBK, we've broken the law. If they determine that we are not storing our guns according to the law, we do not get a slap on the wrist; we lose our hunting licenses, our gun licenses, and our guns.
I was recently asked by an American what M would do if an intruder broke into our house in the middle of the night while we were sleeping and his gun were handy. It wouldn't be. It would be unloaded in the locked safe in the basement. If we had to call the police because M shot an intruder in our house, during the investigation we would have to answer how one of us was able to get from our bedroom, through the single-story house past the intruder into the basement, unlock the gun safe, load the gun, return upstairs and shoot the guy before he decided he'd better leave.
M has been waiting so far four weeks for his Jagdschein. With the Jagdschein he can pick up the rifles we ordered (they should be ready at the end of August). Within two weeks of possessing the guns he needs to request that a WBK (gun license) be issued in which the rifles are registered. If I have my Jagdschein by then also, then I will request a WBK for myself. An aquaintance of ours has been waiting for his WBK for several months. Anything involving government agencies takes ages here, and Covid-19 has made things even worse.
For anyone who is still reading and would like to know what we ordered, my rifle will be a Heym standard repeating rifle, caliber .308 with a silencer* and a Leica scope.
M has ordered a Heym straight-bolt-action repeating rifle, caliber 8 x 57 IS also with silencer and scope.
*Silencers are legal in most states in Germany including Baden-Württemberg in the interest of hearing protection, but they have to be registered in our WBK.
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| "Deutlich Luft nach oben!" my Schießtrainer would say. ("Much room for improvement!") 50 meters, freehand, moving target |
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| The Rehbock target isn't moving and I get much better results here. 100 meters, aufgelegt (resting on a brace) |
We will continue to spend a good amount of time at the Schießstand before we ever consider actually going hunting with an experienced hunter because we want to be confident we can do this right and Waidgerecht. This thing that I was never against but certain I would never do (hunting) has become something I could consider doing. There is no meat that is more Bio than Wild, and I can imagine cooking (or rather helping M cook) meat from an animal I shot well and field-dressed myself can be a satisfying experience.
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| Roe buck and yearling season in B-W is May 1st through January 31. |
Previous Posts:
Jagdschule Week 1 (hunting school)
Jagdschule Week 2
Jagdschule Week 3
Jägerprüfung (hunting test)
Jägerprüfung result
First Treibjagd
Second Treibjagd
Funnily, six years ago the previous anti-gun me wrote a blog post about the topic of guns in my home state of Wisconsin, USA. I know more about the German gun laws now than I did then, so I need to go back and correct a few things!
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