Weapons law

Symbolic image: Adobe Stock / Polizei NRW
Weapons law
Since September 1, 2020, the 3rd Act Amending Weapons Law and Other Regulations (3rd WaffRÄndG) has required weapons manufacturers and dealers to store information on weapons in the National Weapons Register. This is intended to ensure that the entire life cycle of weapons and their essential parts can be traced by the security authorities.

The entry into force of the 3rd WaffRÄndG also affects hunters, sport shooters and persons with firearms licenses. We have summarized some of the key points here:

  • In future, the need to possess weapons will be checked by the authorities every five years
  • Certain large magazines will become prohibited items in future
  • The weapons authority will in future have to ask the Office for the Protection of the Constitution whether the person in question is known there as an extremist as part of the background check (so-called “regular query”). 
  • “In future, persons who are members of an anti-constitutional association (even if it is not banned) will generally be considered unreliable under weapons law
  • The National Weapons Register will be expanded so that the entire life cycle of a weapon - from manufacture to destruction - can be tracked by the authorities in future
  • The federal states will be authorized to set up gun and knife ban zones in busy places and educational institutions

Further information on the Weapons Act and other regulations (3rd WaffRÄndG) can be found online on the homepage of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community(BMI).

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