Gun politics in Germany

Gun legislation in Germany is regulated by the German Weapons Act (German: Waffengesetz) which adheres to the European Firearms Directive, first enacted in 1972, and superseded by the law of 2003, in force as of 2016^[update]. This federal statute regulates the handling of knives, firearms and ammunition as well as acquisition, storage, commerce and maintenance of weapons. It also defines certain forbidden items, including nunchucks, switchblade knives and brass knuckles, and bans their possession and distribution.

A German weapons expert said that Germany's weapons laws were among the world's strictest, and sufficient for safety. While gun ownership is widespread, and associations and ranges for shooting sports and the use of historical guns and weapons in festivals are not forbidden, the use of guns for private self-defence is restricted. The German Ministry of the Interior estimated in 2009 that the number of firearms in circulation, legally and illegally, could be up to 45 million. Germany's National Gun Registry, introduced at the end of 2012, counted 5.5 million firearms in use, which are legally owned by 1.4 million people in the country. About 1.5 Million sport shooters in several thousand Schützenvereinen own and use guns for sport, about 400,000 hunters have a licensed gun, about 300,000 collect guns and about 900,000 own an inherited gun.

The Ewige Landfriede (Perpetual Public Peace) ruling of 1495 banned the medieval right of vendetta (Fehderecht) in the Holy Roman Empire (which encompassed what is now Germany). It passed at the Diet of Worms and was enacted by the German king and emperor Maximilian I. In the Holy Roman Empire claims were henceforth no longer to be decided in battle, but through legal process. It established a certain monopoly of the state in the use of organized armed force. The German nationalist movement asked for Volksbewaffnung, a militia system according to the Swiss role model, but failed with those requests in the German revolutions of 1848–49. However, possession of guns and weapons was not generally restricted, but regulations about carrying arms in public came into use.

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