Arms trading license
In the Federal Republic of Germany is for the trade with firearms and ammunition no general freedom of trade .
The Weapons Act provides for an administrative license for the trade in firearms and ammunition. This is issued by the authority responsible for the applicant's commercial establishment - the city administration in urban districts, the district administrator in rural districts - upon request.
In addition to the applicant's “personal reliability” (see below), the granting of a license to trade in arms requires proof of the necessary specialist knowledge through a theoretical and practical test.
According to Section 22 (1) WaffG, this specialist knowledge does not need to prove who, as a gunsmith, fulfills the requirements for entry in the trade register .
Expertise exams in the arms trade
The test can only be accepted when the competent licensing authority has submitted the application documents to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry .
The examination requires sufficient knowledge of the weapons law, in particular the trade in firearms and ammunition as well as the acquisition and use of firearms, the type, construction and handling of the firearms in use, if the permit for the trade in firearms has been applied for and the handling of common ammunition and its use in the associated firearm, if the license to trade in ammunition has been applied for.
The test can be restricted to certain types of weapons and ammunition upon request. The applicant only has to prove knowledge of the firearms and ammunition to which the applied arms trade license relates.
Companies that hold such a license in Germany are, for example, Frankonia and Interimport . Other well-known foreign companies include Cabelas from the USA and Armeria Alvarez from Spain . As a rule, there is no restriction to the home markets.
The Weapons Act (WaffG)
Extract from the current § 21 WaffG:
"... Commercial arms manufacture, arms trade
(1) The license to manufacture, process or repair firearms or ammunition, whether commercially or independently within the scope of a commercial enterprise, is granted by means of a weapons manufacturing license, and the license to trade in firearms or ammunition is granted by means of an arms trading license. It can be restricted to certain types of firearms and ammunition.
(2) For firearms or ammunition to which the license extends, the weapons manufacturing license pursuant to Paragraph 1, Clause 1, includes the permission for the temporary or final transfer to holders of a weapons manufacturing or arms trading license as well as for acquisition for the purposes of gun manufacturing. In the case of gunsmiths registered in the trade register , the gun manufacturing license includes the license to trade in weapons.
(3) Permission is to be denied if
1. the applicant or one of the persons entrusted with the management of the company, a branch or a dependent branch does not have the required reliability (Section 5) or personal aptitude (Section 6),
2. the applicant does not meet the requirements of the Crafts and Trades Code required for the activity requiring a permit in the case of craft operations, insofar as a permit for a corresponding weapon production is applied for,
3. one of the persons named in number 1 does not provide evidence of the required specialist knowledge, insofar as a license to trade in arms is applied for; this does not apply if the applicant does not manage the company, a branch or an dependent branch himself. ... "
