Before applying for a small firearms license or purchasing a gas, alarm or signal weapon, you should ask yourself whether you really need such a weapon or want to carry it in public. This is because carrying a weapon entails considerable risks. The carrier is often unaware of this.

• The weapons mentioned usually look like sharp weapons. They are often indistinguishable from such weapons, which can lead to uncontrolled action by outsiders under certain circumstances.
• Untrained weapon carriers can endanger themselves or injure bystanders in extreme stress situations, and they can even cause life-threatening injuries at close range.

Important to know: Carrying such PTB weapons at public events (e.g. demonstrations, gatherings, sporting events, theater, cinema or concert visits) is generally prohibited. Contrary to popular belief, it is also forbidden to shoot with them on New Year's Eve/New Year's Day - especially not with pyrotechnic ammunition (often supplied with flares).

Prevention and correct behavior

If you want to be prepared for emergency situations, you can also use a shrill alarm. This allows you to draw attention to yourself over a wide area and deter attackers or put them to flight. For advice on how to protect yourself in potentially dangerous situations, please contact our Crime Prevention Department on 0231/ 132 7054 or send an email to DirKK-Vorbeugung.Dortmund [at] polizei.nrw.de.

Think about taking part in a self-defense and self-assertion course and learn to set boundaries in good time and develop strategies for evasive action or resistance. Police sports clubs in your region often offer such courses.

If you find yourself in an emergency situation, always call the police on 110 and ask other passers-by for help.

Applying for a small firearms license

Note: A small firearms license is not required for "pepper spray"!

Should you nevertheless decide to "carry" such a weapon, you can apply for a small firearms license. Carrying is defined as "the exercise of actual control over weapons", i.e. the "carrying" of weapons outside your own home, business premises, your own pacified property or a shooting range. It is irrelevant here whether ammunition is carried. A firearms permit (small firearms license) is not required to store a gas, alarm or signal weapon in your own home, nor is a one-off transport of the unloaded weapon to your own home after purchase.

The prerequisite for the permit is the completion of the 18th year of age. As with the examination of other firearms licenses, your reliability and personal suitability to carry a firearm are also checked. Extensive information from the Federal Central Register, the public prosecutor's register and other police systems is used for this purpose. There is currently an administrative fee of €90 for applying for a small firearms license.

Please note that the small firearms license only entitles the holder to carry a PTB firearm in conjunction with an identity card. These documents must be handed over to police officers or other persons authorized to carry out identity checks for inspection on request.

To apply, please use the download "Small firearms license application" filed under "Forms, applications & information sheets" .