I am quite curious to know if firearm owners in Slovakia have the same gun rights as those of you in the Czech Republic. What can you tell me about Slovakia?
While there was some lessening of gun restrictions on firearm ownership right after the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the large overhaul of the law took place later after the two countries split in 1993. My knowledge of Slovak situation is not as detailed as it is regarding the Czech Republic, but from what I know:
Licensing process:
Slovakia has obligatory psychological exam. In the Czech Republic you need a stamp from general practitioner who may send you to a specialist in case he deems it necessary - that may be anything from eyesight specialist to psychologist. In reality you already go to your doctor knowing that you have psychological/mental history and you will need to go to a psychologist, or you don't and you won't need to. I think that majority of people with mental illness/psychological issues don't attempt to get firearms license, and I have never heard about anyone being sent for the psych eval. Apart from one guy who shot 3 people in 2013, AFTER passing the psych eval.
In Slovakia the cops will go to your house, your neighbors, your coworkers and ask about you when you are applying for the license. At the same time they won't tell them it is about license, so the people might get a bit weird when seeing you after being approached by cops asking about your general behavior.
The carry license in Slovakia is may issue so whatever the people tell the cops may be used to prevent a Slovak from having guns. In the Czech Republic it is shall issue. Cops don't go around asking old women about your behavior and if they were you could appeal such bull**** easily. For Czechs it is criminal background check and misdemeanor check (incl. DUIs, anything violent). Full stop.
In Slovakia, they have license for home defense (no carry) and self defense concealed carry.
Unless there is a price on your head or you are a high ranking banker, forget concealed carry in Slovakia. For Czechs, it is one self defense license that includes concealed carry and which is shall issue. No specific reason needed, just ticking the box "self defense" on the application form.
In Slovakia, the "exam" means board of a few people who may or may not like you. In the Czech Republic it is a written test, 500 multiple choice questions you know in advance, about 30 on the actual exam. You see the outcome right away and if you think that your exam answer is according to the law while it was not accepted (they check it according to a form) - you can take it to court and win and (this has actually happened; the given issue was changed afterwards).
I may be wrong about this but I think that Slovaks don't have
safe handling test and shooting test like we do in the Czech Republic.
Also in Slovakia you can forget about having "military style" self-loading rifles. In the Czech Republic you can carry semi-auto AR 15 in a back pack for self defense (as long as you can effectively conceal it). Yeah, the cops will look at you a bit weird when you come asking for the permit to buy, poses
and carry such a gun, but it is shall issue and weird look is all they can do.
Czechs can get full-autos on may-issue basis. Slovaks can't.
In the Czech Republic, you can fight denial at courts. I suppose you can do it to some extent in Slovakia too, but this is where I think the difference between shall issue and may issue comes into play. It is hard to make your case for something you are not entitled to by law.
a nation state born from the dissolution of Czechoslovakia Jan 1 1993
OK, you are entitled to your view of that. We are used to various views. I have met German tourists in Prague saying something along the line that since this was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, it is basically German city and it should be German once again, and those Slavs here are just on vacation but will need to move back to the steppes sooner or later. Real eye opener to hear that especially in the Prague Jewish Quarter. So lets say it is a new nation state, if you like. I never feel the need to tell those tourists that they are forgetting that when this was the capital of the HRE, Czech was the official language not only in Bohemian Kingdom (unlike German), but was also obligatory for all the princes of HRE (alongside German and Italian), so I won't fight with you on whether my country dates back to 9th century or 1993.
I will share a funny historical-legal story though. When Czechoslovakia was being divided in 1992 - by the act of parliament instead of act of war like Yugoslavia - the Federal Parliament enacted that neither state shall be the legal successor of the Federation. The first thing the Czech parliament did after dissolution of Czechoslovakia was that it said it is not bound by a resolution taken by a body of a country that doesn't exist any more. And accordingly most international bodies accepted that the Czech Republic is successor to Czechoslovakia while Slovaks had to sign up all anew.
A European firearms passport. Do you have one? It didn´t change much here.
I don't. I am not hunter and I am not a sport shooter (even though I do have also sport shooting license on top of self defense and collecting, in hopes to find time to do IPSC one day). I shoot for fun and carry for self defense. It may sound funny considering that I live in one of the safest cities in Europe, but hey, that is my right here.
Are you saying that the situation with the European Firearms Pass didn't change anything for the better? I am listening.
the common market existed long before the EU
Of course it did. After all, the European Firearms Directive was enacted in 1991 by the EEC.
I need to be a member of a club in that country or need to have an invitation to an event which justifies transporting firearms.
Well, the purpose of the Pass is to make it easier for sport shooters or hunters. Apart from Czech Republic and Estonia (and to some extent Slovakia and Austria) you can forget about CC firearm for self defense. So it is kind of obvious you need to be going to a shooting competition in order to be able to transport firearms for that purpose.