Need

To apply for a firearms license, you need a certificate of need. Hunters must submit a copy of their hunting license, while sport shooters require a club and association certificate as well as proof of expertise.

For proof of other requirements, such as boat owners or collectors, please contact your case officer.

Safe storage

The storage of weapons and ammunition is regulated in § 36 WaffG and in §§ 13 and 14 AWaffV.

In principle, weapons must be secured against access by unauthorized persons. Unauthorized persons also include your own partner or other family members living in the same home. No information about the storage location of weapons may be given to outsiders. The obligation to store weapons securely applies to all types of weapons, including alarm weapons and air guns. Firearms requiring a permit must be stored in classified gun cabinets.

According to the new regulations in § 36 WaffG on storage, it will no longer be sufficient to store weapons in containers of security level A and B according to VDMA 24992 (as of May 1995). Nevertheless, it will not be necessary for most gun owners to purchase new containers. This is because gun cabinets that complied with the old legal requirements at the time the amendment to the law came into force (July 6, 2017) are grandfathered. They may therefore continue to be used.

If safety cabinets are purchased after the amendment to the law comes into force, the following provisions will apply in future:

Weapons or ammunition that do not require a permit must be kept in at least one locked container.

A sheet steel container without classification with a swing bolt lock or an equivalent locking device or an equivalent container is required for ammunition requiring a permit. 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 weapons and up to ten short weapons 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 at least with the DIN/EN 1143-1 resistance grade I standard.

Weapon owners must provide evidence of the measures taken for the safe storage of weapons and ammunition to the competent authority (Section 36 (3) sentence 1 WaffG). Proof of the safe storage of weapons and ammunition should be provided as follows:

- Submission of photos of the location of the gun cabinet
- Submission of photos of the gun cabinet in open and closed condition
- Submission of photos of the type plate
- Submission of invoices, delivery bills or purchase contracts for the gun cabinet
- Completed and signed Appendix 1+2 (see "Forms, applications & information sheets")

Anyone who does not store their weapons and ammunition in accordance with the statutory provisions is committing an administrative offense, which can be punished with a fine of up to €10,000. Anyone who deliberately violates the storage regulations and thereby causes the risk of firearms and ammunition being lost or accessed by unauthorized persons is committing a criminal offence punishable by a prison sentence of up to three years or a fine. Furthermore, the non-secure storage of firearms and ammunition leads to the unreliability of the firearms owner and thus to the revocation of the firearms license.

NWR IDs

The National Firearms Register (NWR) stores the data on every gun owner and their permits and weapons (parts).

From 01.09.2020, gun dealers are also directly connected to the NWR and require the NWR IDs of the permit holder and the weapon/weapon part for every purchase or sale of a weapon.

Weapon owners will be sent the necessary NWR IDs in the form of master data sheets (overview of existing permits) without being asked.

In the case of newly issued gun ownership cards or newly registered weapons, the NWR IDs are printed directly on the gun ownership card. It is therefore not necessary to update the master data sheet.

The master data sheets will be sent to permit holders successively from 01.09.2020.

If the NWR IDs are required due to an upcoming transaction involving weapons or weapon parts, please inform us informally - preferably by email to ZA12.Dortmund [at] polizei.nrw.de.

Magazines

If a person possessed a prohibited magazine or a prohibited magazine casing on June 13, 2017 that he acquired before that date, the prohibition shall not take effect against him with respect to that magazine or magazine casing if he reports the possession to the competent authority or surrenders the magazine or magazine casing to an authorized person, the competent authority or a police station no later than September 1, 2021.

If someone on or after June 13, 2017 but before September 1, 2020 possessed a prohibited magazine or a prohibited magazine casing that he acquired on or after June 13, 2017, the prohibition shall not take effect against him with regard to this magazine or magazine casing if he surrenders the magazine or magazine casing to an authorized person, the competent authority or a police station or applies for a BKA exemption permit by September 1, 2021.

These are the following magazines:

Short firearms with integrated magazine > 20 cartridges,
Long guns with integrated magazine > 10 cartridges,
Interchangeable handgun magazines for centerfire ammunition > 20 cartridges,
Interchangeable long gun magazines for centerfire ammunition > 10 cartridges

The "Magazine notification" form can be found under "Forms, applications & information sheets".