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Apply for green weapon possession card for individual person

Service Description

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

In general, firearms are objects 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 propulsive energy of which can be introduced by muscle power or another energy source and stored or held by a locking device (for example, crossbows, arrow launchers).

The handling of firearms is generally subject to a permit, unless it is fully or partially exempted from the permit requirement. A detailed list of weapons for the acquisition and possession of which you require a weapons possession card 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 Act before submitting an application.

Process flow

You must apply for permission to acquire and possess weapons and/or ammunition requiring a permit from the relevant weapons authority. Submit the application together with the required documents.

The firearms authority will grant you the permit if you meet the necessary requirements.

Who should I contact?

Firearms Authorities

Competent authority

District office or city

Requirements

  • The responsible person must be reliable in terms of weapons law. The responsible person can be assessed as unreliable under weapons law, among other things,
    • if he/she has been legally sentenced to a custodial sentence of at least 1 year within the last 10 years or has been a member of or supported a prohibited organization within the last 10 years.
    • if it can be assumed that he/she misuses or improperly handles weapons or ammunition, does not keep these objects carefully or hands them over to persons who are not authorized to do so.
    • if he/she has been in preventive police custody more than once in the last 5 years with judicial authorization due to violence.
    • if he/she has repeatedly or grossly violated the weapons law.
  • The person responsible must prove his or her personal suitability.

    The responsible person may be deemed personally unsuitable if, among other things
    • he or she is legally incompetent
    • he or she is dependent on alcohol or other intoxicating substances, is mentally ill or is a mental defective.
    • he/she suffers from serious illnesses, such as brain injuries, or physical impairments, such as amputations or severe visual impairment.
    • it can be assumed that he or she cannot handle weapons or ammunition carefully or properly or that there is a concrete danger that he or she will endanger others or himself or herself.
  • The responsible person must prove that he or she has sufficient knowledge about weapons and ammunition and how to handle them (expertise).

    In order to obtain the expert knowledge in handling weapons and ammunition, he or she must attend an appropriate training course. The course includes a theoretical and practical part. At the end of the course, an examination is taken before an authorized examination board. If the examination is passed, the responsible person receives a certificate for which weapons and ammunition the expert knowledge has been acquired. The responsible person can also obtain the expertise only for the weapons and ammunition that you want to acquire and own as a shooting sports club.

    The responsible person does not have to take a separate expert knowledge examination if he or she has
    • the hunter's examination or an examination equivalent to it, or
    • has passed a journeyman's examination for the gunsmith's trade or
    • has worked as a full-time employee in the trade of firearms and ammunition for at least 3 years.
    • In these cases, only appropriate evidence must be submitted.
  • You must prove that you can safely store firearms and ammunition.

    You must store firearms and ammunition safely. This generally means that only the person in charge has access to weapons and ammunition, for example, by carrying the key with them at all times or otherwise keeping them safe. 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, the reliability of the responsible person in terms of weapons law may be called into question and you, as a shooting sports club, may have your weapons possession card revoked.

    When applying, you must provide information on the storage location as well as on the container in which you intend to store weapons and ammunition. In principle, you can use the following guidelines as a guide:
    • Ammunition requiring a permit must be stored in a sheet steel cabinet/container with a swing bolt lock.
    • To store long guns and handguns requiring a permit as well as ammunition 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 want to acquire and possess.
    • In a gun cabinet with resistance grade 0 according to EN 1143-1 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 gun cabinet with resistance grade 0 according to EN 1143-1 with a weight of more than 200 kilograms, you may store an unlimited number of long guns, up to 10 handguns and ammunition.
    • In a gun cabinet with resistance grade 1 according to EN 1143-1, you may store an unlimited number of long guns and handguns as well as ammunition.
    • The following regulations generally apply to the place where you may install the firearm cabinet:
    • If you live in an apartment building, you are not allowed to place the gun cabinet in the basement if each resident has only one so-called basement locker, which is only secured by a door with a padlock.
    • You are allowed to store up to 3 long guns in buildings that are not permanently inhabited, such as a hunting lodge or a weekend house. However, for this you need a gun cabinet with resistance grade 1.
    • If you live in the same household as another gun owner, you may store the guns in a joint gun cabinet.
    • It is also permitted to store weapons and ammunition with a weapons dealer. You must provide appropriate proof for this.
  • You must be at least 25 years old. Exceptions apply to sport shooters and hunters.

    If you are under 25 years of age, you must submit a specialist medical or specialist psychological report/testimonial on your mental fitness to the relevant weapons authority. You must pay for the certificate yourself and send the original to the relevant firearms authority by post. 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 sport shooter, you must be at least 18 years old. Then you are entitled to acquire and possess firearms up to caliber 5.6 mm lfB (.22 l. r.) for rimfire ammunition with a muzzle energy of the projectiles not exceeding 200 joules (J) and single-shot long guns with smoothbore barrels of caliber 12 or smaller.

    For other firearms, the minimum age for sport shooters is 21 years, provided you can present a specialist medical or specialist psychological certificate/attestation of mental fitness.
  • You must prove that it is necessary for you to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition (need).

    In order to be allowed to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition, you must provide a credible reason to the responsible weapons authority (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 you are a hunter and only want to acquire and possess long guns and two handguns, then no further proof of a need is required.
    • You have been a member of a sports club for 1 year, which is a member of a recognized shooting sports association and in which shooting with such weapons is permitted according to an approved shooting sports regulation. The shooting sport regulations are approved by the Federal Office of Administration. In addition, you must prove that you have regularly participated in training (at least once a month or at least 18 times within a year).
    • your life is in great danger
    • you can credibly demonstrate other reasons why you want to acquire and possess weapons and ammunition.

Which documents are required?

  • Identity card or passport (copy)
  • Proof of expertise
  • Proof of storage, e.g. purchase contract for a gun cabinet and/or photos of gun cabinet and place of installation
  • If applicable, a medical or psychological certificate of mental fitness (if under 21 years of age in the case of sport shooters or under 25 years of age in the case of other persons).

Legal basis

Author

The text was automatically translated based on the German content.

Technically approved by

Thuringian Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs

Professionally released on

28.04.2023

Source: Zuständigkeitsfinder Thüringen (Linie6Plus)

No competent authority found