Gun Law

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The weapons law treats the rules on slashing , stabbing and thrusting weapons , spraying equipment , firearms and ammunition . Among other things, it regulates the licensing (weapon and person-related), trading , acquisition and possession , storage and use of weapons and ammunition. The gun law is usually laid down in writing in gun laws.

European Union

In the European Union (EU), the minimum standards of the weapons law of the member states are regulated in the following EU directives and regulations:

  • Directive 91/477 / EEC of June 18, 1991, on the control of the acquisition and possession of weapons
  • Directive 2008/51 / EC of 21 May 2008, amending Council Directive 91/477 / EEC on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons
  • Regulation 258/2012 of March 14, 2012, on the implementation of Article 10 of the United Nations Protocol
  • Directive (EU) 2017/853 of May 17, 2017, amending Council Directive 91/477 / EEC on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons

A tightening of the gun law has been increasingly discussed in the EU since the terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015 in Paris . After the EU Commission, the European Parliament and the member states agreed on the principles of an amendment in December 2016, the EU Parliament passed a new weapons directive on March 14, 2017. The causal connection between terrorist attacks and weaknesses in the existing weapons law has been questioned by sports and interest groups, as never before has a terrorist attack with an Islamist background been carried out with registered sports weapons, but exclusively with illegal weapons of war. The so-called weapons effect is often cited, according to which the availability of weapons should lead to an increase in the propensity to use violence in society. Both the study and the conclusions drawn are, however, controversial in research, since the results cannot always be reliably reproduced and, for example, in Switzerland there is an assault rifle in almost every household and these are almost never misused for criminal offenses.

In the future, private individuals will be prohibited from:

There are far-reaching exceptions for hunters and sport shooters . Spiegel magazine attributes this to lobbying . The member states of the European Union have 15 months to transpose the directive into national law. [obsolete] As a member of the Schengen area , Switzerland should also implement the new gun law.

Germany

In Germany, the weapons law is mainly due to the the Federal Law scoring Arms Act normalized (Weapons Act), the General Administrative Regulation on the Arms Act (WaffVwV) and the General Weapons Act (AWaffV). Additional legal provisions can be found in the Firearms Regulations and -regulations and the Explosives Act and the ordinances. The WaffG from 1976 was replaced on April 1, 2003 by a completely revised WaffG. It is therefore also referred to as the “new gun law”. Comprehensive regulations are outsourced in 2 annexes, whereby the first annex outlines the terms of "weapon" and the various forms of "handling" named in § 1 of the WaffG. The second annex contains the "weapons list". This contains the prohibited weapons that require a license, which are generally named in Section 2 WaffG. In addition, Annex 2 specifies exceptions to the authorization requirement with regard to individual manners and finally stipulates those items that should be exempt from the WaffG.

The WaffG underwent a major change with effect from April 1, 2008. On the one hand, the “inheritance regulation” set out in Section 20 of the Weapons Act has been tightened by an obligation to block the function of inherited weapons without need. Above all, however, Section 42a WaffG has been added. This writes of passing all a principle prohibiting the appearance of weapons before and all the cutting and thrust weapons. In addition, the use of one-hand knives and knives with fixed blades longer than 12 cm should generally be prohibited. In paragraph 2 of the regulation, however, extensive exceptions to the prohibition are provided, which allow driving above all if it serves a generally recognized purpose. These exceptions contain vague legal terms and are therefore not easy to apply. This regulation is of great practical relevance and is accordingly lively discussed in specialist circles.

On July 25, 2009 the stricter gun law came into force. The occasion was the rampage in Winnenden . Since then, gun owners may have to a. count on suspicion-independent controls excluding the right to inviolability of the home (Art. 13 GG). The 2011 attacks in Norway , in which Anders Behring Breivik shot and killed 69 people on the holiday island of Utøya, also prompted many countries to reflect and debate about gun law.

Above all, types of weapons and their ammunition intended for military use fall under the War Weapons Control Act .

France

On October 23, 1935, the then Prime Minister Pierre Laval restricted the free possession of weapons in France by ordinance. This was aimed against armed militias that existed in France at the time [Laval dissolved them on December 6, 1935, including the Ligues d'extrême droite ( ligues ) ]. When the Wehrmacht occupied parts of France in the western campaign in May / June 1940 , there were not as many weapons in private hands as five years earlier.

In today's gun law there are eight categories into which guns, gun parts and ammunition are divided. Depending on the category and in the categories themselves, weapons may be acquired freely or with official permission, or they are prohibited.

Austria

Slovakia

Gun ownership in Slovakia is mainly regulated by Law 190/2003. You need a gun license to buy most guns. Fully automatic machine guns are prohibited. There are six categories of gun license possession. (A - carrying weapons for self-protection, B - having a weapon to protect yourself at home, C - carrying weapons for work purposes, D - long guns for hunting, E - having weapons for sport shooting, F - collecting weapons.)

Basically, you have to be at least 21 years old, have no criminal record, and be mentally and physically healthy to apply for a gun license. There is an oral exam that covers gun law, safe treatment and first aid.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic's gun law is a little less restrictive than that of other European Union countries. The latest weapons law was passed in 2001. Self-protection is an accepted justification for obtaining a gun license.

Other states

Japan

The possession and sale of weapons are strictly controlled in Japan. There are 0.6 handguns for every 100 inhabitants.

Switzerland

United States

In the United States , every American citizen has the constitutional right to own weapons. The second amendment to the constitution of 1791 states: "Because a well-ordered militia is necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the population to own and carry weapons should not be restricted."

In the second amendment to the constitution, however, it was unclear which weapons are allowed. In 1994 Bill Clinton enacted a law requiring gun buyers to be screened within five days of purchase. Furthermore, weapons with a magazine capacity of more than ten rounds were banned, but larger magazines are often available separately. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act stipulated a five-day period between purchase and delivery of weapons. In 1997 this law was passed by the Supreme Court in the “Printz v. United States "repealed as unconstitutional, as this overruled federalism and curtailed state legislative powers. Many states then adopted the so-called “ Brady Bill ” into state law and retained it.

The United States Supreme Court ruled in the District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) made it clear, however, that private gun ownership can be regulated by the states, but cannot be banned entirely as in the District of Columbia case . As a result of this ruling, the District of Columbia has announced that it will permit certain weapons, but with an obligation to register.

All in all, the regulations on weapons law differ greatly from state to state; there is no uniform weapons law like in Germany.

See also

literature

  • Gunther Dietrich Gade: Basic knowledge of weapons law -Handbook for training and practice- , 342 pages, 4th edition 2017, Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, ISBN 978-3-17-025310-0
  • Lars Winkelsdorf : Arms Republic of Germany. Der Bürger am Abzug , Fackelträger Verlag, Cologne 2010 ISBN 978-3-7716-4450-5
  • Michael Huemer : Is there a right to own firearms? In: Against the presumption of politics . Verlag, ed. U. Translator Thomas Leske, Gäufelden 2015, ISBN 978-3-9817616-0-3 , pp. 45–83.
  • André Busche: Kompendium Waffensachkunde (textbook with weapons law and AWaffV 2009 in full). 3rd edition (August 2009), 406 pages, Juristischer Fachverlag, Kiel, 2009, ISBN 978-3-940723-39-0
  • Robert E. Heller and Holger Soschinka: Gun law. Handbuch für die Praxis , 522 p., 2nd edition, comprehensively revised and provided with illustrations, Munich, CH Beck May 2008. ISBN 978-3-406-55727-9 (All changes to the law on the amendment of weapons law that have been made since April 1, 2008 have come into force are taken into account)
  • Hartmut Komm: Gun Law. Basics for police practice . 192 pages, VDP , Hilden, 2006, ISBN 978-3-8011-0524-2
  • Achim-Volker König and Christian Papsthart: The new gun law. 413 pages, Nomos 2004. ISBN 3-7890-8313-5
  • Dirk Ostgathe: Gun Law compact. Brief explanations of the Weapons Act , 154 pages, 7th edition, 2018, Richard Boorberg Verlag, Stuttgart / Munich, ISBN 978-3-415-06172-9 .
  • André Busche (Ed.): Authorities handbook on gun law for administration and justice: Basics, permits, shooting ranges, storage. 320 pages, ISBN 978-3-940723-03-1
  • Regulation H.Dv. 20, Gun Law in the German Reich, 1938

Web links

Wiktionary: Gun Law  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Directive 91/477 / EEC of June 18, 1991 on the control of the acquisition and possession of weapons .
  2. ↑ Directive 2008/51 / EC of May 21, 2008 amending Council Directive 91/477 / EEC on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons .
  3. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 258/2012 of March 14, 2012 on the implementation of Article 10 of the United Nations Protocol .
  4. ↑ Directive (EU) 2017/853 of May 17, 2017 amending Council Directive 91/477 / EEC on the control of the acquisition and possession of weapons .
  5. ^ To Paris: EU wants to tighten gun law .
  6. ↑ EU Commission submitted proposals for stricter gun law ( memento of November 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ).
  7. ↑ EU wants to tighten gun law October 20, 2013.
  8. ↑ Markus Becker: EU tightens gun law. Spiegel Online, December 20, 2016, accessed March 14, 2017.
  9. ↑ Delwin D. Cahoon, Ed M. Edmonds: The weapons effect: Fact or artifact? In: Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society . tape 23 , no. 1 , ISSN  0090-5054 , p. 57-60 , doi : 10.3758 / bf03329778 ( springer.com [accessed September 25, 2017]).
  10. ^ Alan Yuhas: Mere sight of a gun makes police - and public - more aggressive, experts say . In: The Guardian . August 5, 2015, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed September 25, 2017]).
  11. ^ The Weapons Effect - Does the Mere Presence of a Gun Increase Aggression? | Skeptic. Retrieved September 25, 2017 (American English).
  12. ↑ Markus Becker: Gun fans defuse new EU control law Spiegel Online , October 19, 2016.
  13. ↑ Markus Becker: EU Parliament tightened gun law - open dispute at press conference. Spiegel Online, March 14, 2017, accessed on the same day.
  14. ↑ EU tightens gun law - Switzerland also affected . Tages-Anzeiger , March 14, 2017.
  15. ↑ Arms Act for the Federal Republic of Germany
  16. ↑ General administrative regulation for the Weapons Act (Federal Republic of Germany) .
  17. ↑ General Weapons Law Ordinance for the Federal Republic of Germany .
  18. ↑ Law on the testing and approval of firearms, firecrackers, devices that use ammunition for propulsion, as well as ammunition and other weapons for the Federal Republic of Germany
  19. ↑ General Ordinance on the Shelling Act for the Federal Republic of Germany
  20. ↑ Law on Explosive Substances (Federal Republic of Germany) .
  21. ^ One year of the new gun law - the right to integrity , in Süddeutsche Zeitung, July 21, 2010.
  22. ↑ Source: BMI ( Memento from November 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), July 20, 2009.
  23. ↑ zeit.de April 26, 2012: The rampages of Erfurt, Winnenden and Oslo did little to harm the liberal German gun law. Around seven million weapons are stored in private homes. Why does the shooting lobby have so much power? .
  24. ↑ Implementation Act to Article 26, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany (War Weapons Control Act) .
  25. ↑ platné zákony a nariadenia .
  26. ↑ Source: A Disarming Land in Handelsblatt.com, October 11, 2017, accessed on March 1, 2018.