If you wish to acquire and possess weapons and/or ammunition requiring a permit as an heir, you must apply for a permit from the relevant weapons authority. You must apply for the permit within one month after you have accepted the inheritance or the period within which you could have waived the inheritance has expired.

In general, firearms are objects that are intended for attack or defense, signaling, hunting, distance injection, marking, sport or play and in which projectiles are propelled through a barrel or in which solid bodies are fired in a targeted manner, the propelling energy of which is provided by muscle power or another energy source and can be stored or held by a locking device (e.g. crossbows, arrow launchers).

A distinction is made between firearms that require a permit and those that do not. You need a small firearms license to be allowed to carry permit-free firearms (see further information). All weapons that are not alarm, irritant or signal weapons with a PTB mark in the circle are counted as weapons requiring a permit.

PTB mark in the district. You will find a detailed list of weapons for which you require a weapons possession card in Annex 2 of the Weapons Act.

If you have a gun ownership card (WBK) as an heir, you can have the weapons entered on it. If the deceased had a permit to possess the inherited weapons, you will receive the permit if you are reliable and personally suitable in terms of weapons law.

If you, as the heir, cannot prove a need to possess the inherited weapons, you must render the weapons unusable or have them fitted with a blocking system (see Further information). If there is no marketable blocking system for the inherited weapons, you must provide proof of this. You must have all modifications to the inherited weapons demonstrably carried out by a specialist and notify the competent authority accordingly. However, you do not have to have the weapons blocked if you have a gun ownership card.

As a community of heirs, you can also apply for a joint permit. If not everyone wants to inherit the weapons, these persons must declare that they renounce the inheritance. In order to obtain the permit, you or all members of a community of heirs must each prove their need and the requirements will be checked for all applicants.

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

In order to obtain permission to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition that require a permit, you must

• be of the appropriate age and
• Your need,
• Your reliability under firearms law,
• your personal suitability,
• your expertise in handling weapons and ammunition and
• prove the safe storage of weapons and ammunition.

Age

If you are under 25 years of age, you may be asked by the relevant firearms authority to submit a specialist medical or psychological report/certificate on your mental aptitude. You must pay for the certificate yourself and send the original by post to the relevant firearms authority (a copy or e-mail will not be accepted).

If you are a hunter, you do not need such a certificate.

If you are a marksman, you must be at least 18 years old. Then you are entitled to purchase and possess firearms up to caliber 5.6 mm lfB (.22 l. r.) for rimfire ammunition with a maximum muzzle energy of 200 joules (J) and single-shot long guns with smooth barrels of caliber 12 or smaller.

For other firearms, the minimum age for sport shooters is 21 years, provided that you can present a medical or psychological certificate confirming your mental aptitude.

Need

In order to be allowed to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition, you must provide the relevant weapons authority with a credible reason (need). As a rule, a credible reason is recognized if

• You are a hunter and have a hunting license (daily or annual hunting license). If, as a hunter, you only wish to acquire and own long guns and two short guns, no further proof of a need is required.
• You must have been a member of a sports club that is a member of a recognized shooting sports association for 1 year and where shooting with such weapons is permitted in accordance with an approved shooting sports regulation. The shooting regulations are approved by the Federal Office of Administration. You must also prove that you have regularly taken part in training (at least once a month or at least 18 times within a year).
• your life is at high risk
• you can credibly demonstrate other reasons why you wish to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition.

Reliability under firearms law

You can be assessed as reliable under firearms law if, among other things

1. if you have not been sentenced to a prison sentence of at least 1 year within the last 10 years and have not been a member of or supported a prohibited organization in the last 10 years.
2. if it cannot be assumed that you misuse weapons or ammunition or handle them improperly, do not store these items carefully or hand them over 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 authorization due to violence.
4. if you have not repeatedly or grossly violated firearms legislation.

Personal suitability

You may be assessed as personally unsuitable if, among other things

1. you are legally incompetent.
2. you are dependent on alcohol or other intoxicating substances, mentally ill or mentally retarded.
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 do not handle weapons or ammunition carefully or properly or cannot store these items carefully or that there is a concrete danger that you will endanger others or yourself.

Specialist knowledge

1. In order to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition, you must prove that you are able to handle them properly. In order to obtain a certificate of competence in handling weapons and ammunition, you must take 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 pass the examination, you will receive proof of the weapons and ammunition for which you have acquired the certificate of competence. You can also obtain the certificate of competence only for the weapons and ammunition that you wish to acquire and possess.

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

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

In these cases, you only need to provide suitable proof.

Safe storage

You must store firearms and ammunition securely. This generally means that only you as the authorized person have access to weapons and ammunition, for example by carrying the key with you at all times. If you do not store your weapons and ammunition securely, you are committing an administrative offense for which a fine of up to 10,000 euros can be imposed. In addition, your reliability under firearms law may be called into question and your firearms possession card may be revoked.

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

• You must store ammunition requiring a permit in a sheet steel cabinet/container with a swing bolt lock.
• You need a gun cabinet to store long guns and handguns that require a permit as well as ammunition that requires a permit. The type of gun cabinet you need depends on the number and type of weapons and/or ammunition you wish to purchase and own.
  • You may store an unlimited number of long guns, up to 5 handguns and ammunition in a gun cabinet with resistance grade 0 in accordance with EN 1143-1 weighing up to 200 kilograms.
  • You may store an unlimited number of long weapons, up to 10 short weapons and ammunition in a gun cabinet with resistance grade 0 in accordance with EN 1143-1 weighing over 200 kilograms.
  • You may store an unlimited number of long weapons and handguns as well as ammunition in a gun cabinet with resistance grade 1 in accordance with EN 1143-1.
• The following regulations generally apply to the location where you may set up the gun cabinet:
  • If you live in an apartment building, it is not permitted to place the gun cabinet in the cellar if each resident only has a so-called cellar locker that is only secured by a door with a padlock.
  • You may also store up to 3 long guns in buildings that are not permanently inhabited, such as a hunting lodge or a weekend house. However, you need a gun cabinet with resistance grade 1 for this.
  • If you live in a shared household with another gun owner, you may store the guns in a shared gun cabinet.
• As a hunter, you may also allow another hunter to temporarily store your long guns in their gun cabinet. However, this period should be limited; permanent storage is not permitted. For permanent storage, you should purchase your own gun cabinet to which only you have access.
• It is also permitted to store weapons and ammunition at a gun dealer. You must provide appropriate proof of this.