Source: BUS Sachsen-Anhalt (Linie6PLus)

Apply for a red gun ownership card for gun or ammunition collectors

Description

Basically, you always need a permit to collect weapons and ammunition.

In general, firearms are objects intended for attack or defence, signalling, hunting, distance injection, marking, sport or play, in which projectiles are driven through a barrel or in which solid bodies are deliberately fired, whose propulsive energy can be introduced by muscle power or another source of energy and stored or held by a locking device (for example, crossbows, Arrow launchers).

A distinction is made between firearms subject to authorisation and firearms. In order to carry firearms without a permit, you need a small firearms license. All weapons that are not alarm, irritant and signal weapons with PTB signs in the circle require permission. A detailed list of weapons for which you need a permit to collect can be found in Annex 2 of the Weapons Act.

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

To obtain permission to collect weapons and ammunition subject to authorization, you must:

at least 25 years old, and
Your need,
Your reliability in terms of weapons law,
Your personal suitability,
your expertise in dealing with weapons and ammunition as well as
prove the safe storage of weapons and ammunition.

Requirements

You must be at least 25 years old.

If you are under 25 years of age, you may be asked by the competent weapons authority to submit a specialist medical or psychological report/certificate of your mental fitness. You must pay for the report/certificate yourself and send the original by post to the responsible weapons authority. A copy or e-mail will not be accepted.
You must prove that your collection is culturally and historically or scientifically and technically significant (need).

You can provide proof, for example, by means of an expert opinion.
You must prove your reliability under weapons law.

Among other things, they can be considered reliable under weapons law if:
- you have not been finally 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 banned organisation in the last 10 years.
- It cannot be assumed that you misuse or improperly handle weapons or ammunition, do not store these items diligently or leave them to persons who are not authorized to do so.
- You have not been in preventive police custody more than once in the last 5 years with judicial authorisation for violence.
- You have not repeatedly or grossly violated the gun law.
You must prove your personal suitability.

Among other things, you may not be considered personally suitable if:
- You are legally incapacitated.
- You are dependent on 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 cannot handle weapons or ammunition carefully or properly or that you cannot store these items carefully or that there is a real risk that you will endanger others or yourself.
You must prove that you have sufficient knowledge of weapons and ammunition as well as how to handle them (expertise).

In order to get the expertise in dealing with weapons and ammunition, you must participate in a corresponding course. The course includes a theoretical and practical part. At the end of the course, you will take an exam before an authorized examination board. If you have passed the exam, you will receive proof of the weapons and ammunition for which you have acquired the expertise. If your collection does not contain fireable weapons, you may not need to have shooting skills. That decision shall be taken by the competent authority.
You must prove that you can safely store weapons and ammunition.
This generally means that only you as an authorized person have access to weapons and ammunition, for example by carrying the key with you at all times. If you do not keep your weapons and ammunition safe, you are committing an administrative offence for which a fine of up to EUR 10,000 can be imposed. In addition, your reliability under weapons law may be called into question and your gun ownership card may be revoked.

When applying, you must provide information about both the storage location and the container in which you want to store weapons and ammunition. Basically, you can orient yourself to the following specifications:
- Ammunition requiring authorisation must be stored in a sheet steel cabinet/container with a swing bolt lock.
- In order to store long guns and handguns subject to authorisation as well as ammunition subject to authorisation, you need a gun safe. Which gun safe 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 weighing 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 weighing over 200 kilograms, you may store an unlimited number of long guns, up to 10 handguns and ammunition.
  - In a gun safe 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 may set up the gun safe, the following rules apply:
  - If you live in an apartment building, it is not allowed to set up the gun cabinet in the basement if each resident has only one so-called basement shed, which is secured only with 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. For this, however, you need to store a gun cabinet with resistance level 1.
  - If you live with another gun owner in a common household, you may store the weapons in a common gun safe.
- As a hunter, you may temporarily have your long guns stored by another hunter in his gun cabinet. However, this time should be limited, permanent storage is not allowed. For permanent storage, you should buy your own gun safe, to which only you have access.
- It is also allowed to store weapons and ammunition at an arms dealer. For this, you must provide appropriate proof.

Which documents are required?

Identity card or passport (copy)
Proof of the cultural and historical value of the collection
Certificate of competence
Proof of storage, for example purchase contract for a gun safe and/or photos of gun cabinet and installation site
if applicable, specialist or psychological certificate of your mental aptitude (if under 25 years of age)