You can still find all relevant and important documents for download in the right-hand column.

Please also note our information on data protection when applying for firearms licenses.

There is also an information sheet with so-called FAQ on key storage.

In recent months, many applications for "small firearms licenses" have been submitted to the German firearms authorities, including the Olpe district police authority. This obviously has to do with incidents in the past as well as individual experiences that have changed many people's sense of security.

Before you proceed and submit the application to the local authority, you are asked to take note of the following information:

• Any uncertainty in handling weapons can have fatal consequences for you and bystanders. Always remember that you are in a stressful situation if you use a weapon. It is possible that the attacker will snatch the gas/barrelled shotgun from you and turn it on you.
• It is also possible that the attacker has a live firearm, leaving you in an almost hopeless situation.
• Remember that if you react inappropriately, you could injure yourself or uninvolved third parties, which could result in claims for damages or criminal prosecution.
• Are you aware that you are not allowed to carry weapons at public festivals, sporting events or similar public events, as you would otherwise be liable to prosecution?
• It is also forbidden to shoot with a weapon, especially on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, especially not with pyrotechnic ammunition.

For further information, please contact the staff of the ZA 1/2.1 department (see contacts in the right-hand column).

Changes to the Weapons Act - Changes to storage regulations

In mid-May 2018, the Bundestag passed a draft bill by the federal government to amend the Weapons Act and other regulations (2nd WaffRÄndG). For gun owners, the amendment to the law will result in particular in changes to the storage of firearms. In addition, for a limited period of twelve months after the law comes into force, it will be possible to hand in illegally possessed weapons and ammunition to the weapons and police authorities without penalty. Under the new storage regulations, it will no longer be sufficient to store weapons in security level A and B containers in accordance with VDMA 24992 (as of May 1995).

However, it will not be necessary for most gun owners to purchase new containers. This is because gun cabinets that met the old legal requirements at the time the amendment came into force are grandfathered. They may therefore continue to be used. This is only different if the safe has changed hands after the amendment to the law came into force. This means, for example, that in inheritance cases, the gun cabinets cannot be taken over in future and the heirs may have to purchase new safety containers.

If safety containers are acquired after the amendment to the law comes into force, the new provisions will apply in future.

Weapons or ammunition that do not require a permit must be stored in at least one locked container. For ammunition requiring a permit, a sheet steel container without classification with a swing bolt lock or an equivalent locking device or an equivalent container is required. An unlimited number of long guns and a total of up to five handguns and ammunition can be stored in a security container that meets at least the DIN/EN 1143-1 resistance grade 0 standard (less than 200 kilograms). If this container weighs 200 kilograms or more, an unlimited number of long guns and up to ten short guns and ammunition can be stored in it. Finally, an unlimited number of long and short weapons and ammunition can be stored in a security container that complies with at least the DIN/EN 1143-1 resistance grade I standard.

If you have any questions by telephone, please contact the responsible officers at the Olpe district police authority using the contact details in the right-hand column.