alphalimafoxtrot wrote:
My question: does German gun law allow this for all "former" machine guns, machine pistols, submachine guns? Or does this have more to do with the C&R/antique/"novelty" status of the older NFA (oops and American term
) guns?]
While German gun laws are very strict with who can buy a gun, and the actual process, it's relatively loose on what we can buy.
To get the permission to buy a gun, you need to be member of a government registered club, that does sport shooting according a government approved rulebook. You need to be member for at least one year, and prove at least 18 training sessions with firearms. Then you go to your club, and tell them which gun you want for what discipline from the rulebook. They then confirm the authorities, that you in fact do need this specific gun (not individual gun, but type, caliber, and other technical specs) and do not already own one you could use. Then you can go to the office and apply for permission to buy the gun. You bring with you proof of purchase for a qualified gun safe. They then will check your police record from local, state and federal police. They will also check your medical record, your "driver behavior register", and all 17 secret services we have in Germany, as well as the EU and international terrorist database. Then they grant you permission to buy that gun you asked for. Now you can go to the dealer, and buy the gun. After you did, you again go to the authorities and tell them you did, which they will sign off. You can only buy two guns within 6 months.
I pay about 250 USD in paperwork for each gun I buy.
But all of the above only is valid for sports shooters. With a hunting permit, you can buy as many long guns as you want, and pay significantly lower fees.
The types of guns we can get is regulated surprisingly soft, considering the above.
We can not own "weapons of war", which is (a bit simplified) defined as all machine guns, and all post September 1942 submachine guns, or "important parts" of these. These "important parts" are barrel, bolt and on handguns the frame that holds the trigger. We can also not own "prohibited weapons", which is all full auto guns and a lot of knifes and other stuff that in the rest of the world qualifies as toys. As a sports shooter you can also not own guns that look like "full auto weapons of war", if the case length is below 42 mm.
Guns are divided into two groups, "long guns" and "short guns". There is no such thing as an SBR, or braced pistol, or stuff. There's also no such thing as C&R. So there's also no tax stamp for whatever gun... it's either allowed or prohibited. Currently single shot muzzle loading guns that have been developed before 1872 (also replicas) are free, but that unfortunately will change soon. Modern designs of muzzle loaders and revolvers always fell under the above laws.
But that's it. If the gun is not exempt by the technical specs in the rulebook, you can buy it. The Thompson is allowed in the discipline "long gun, pistol caliber, open sight", so I could buy it. Since it is a pre 1942 submachine gun, and therefore only was a "prohibited weapon", it could retain it's original barrel and bolt, just be permanently modified to semi auto. I could not buy an M1919 machine gun, even if it was converted to semi auto, because it is a machine gun, and therefore a "weapon of war". These can only be demilitarized by permanently welding them to a solid block.
I think, German gun laws aren't that bad in total. We can get basically everything we want, it just takes time and a lot of money. The problem is the "good cause" we need to prove with every single purchase, and we need to reprove constantly. If we stop shooting for a year or two, without giving a really good explanation, we are forced to sell all of our guns, and need to start all over again from the beginning.