Active military, time to go to Europe. Which is more gun friendly?

Good luck. I wouldn't plan on taking anything. I could be wrong though.

Mags,

I don't have the info you're seeking, however! Thanks for your service to our country, your continued faith in our troubling times. I served in the Navy from '67 -'71, another popular time to be enlisted. Hope things work out for your firearm questions, your firearm purchases and your swift return home.

Semper Fi !

788Ham
Patriot who served

This is pretty well second-hand information, but I'm aware that Italy is, or has been, restrictive when it comes to the 9x19, or 9mm Parabellum in particular. Citizens generally aren't, or weren't, allowed this caliber.
My advice would be to contact the consulates of those countries and find out what their gun laws are, relative to your situation.

I don't have direct links, but I know people in Germany and Italy.

Other than 9x19 restriction Italy has very decent gun laws. They even have carry fairly accessible to normal people. The common civilian caliber instead of 9x19 is 9x21 and most comparable guns are available in it. Every other caliber is no problem.

Germany has awful gun laws. Not as bad as UK, but simply awful. Mandatory gun club memberships for a period of time (6 months?) before being allowed to buy a gun, huge problems getting another gun in a caliber you already own, carry permits exist but are unobtainable in practice. Import of guns is probably impossible.

Netherlands and Belgium I am not familiar with, but never heard anything good about.

Keep bumping this thread to the top because there's one THR member in particular who I remember as being active military and having commented on his experience on this subject before. Sorry, but I can't recall his handle.

Go Swiss and you should be happy.

I'm also curious.

consulate

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Embassy! Why couldn't I think of the word "embassy" instead of "consulate"?

:banghead:




Found some random items about Belgian gun laws on the web:

http://www.comunidadesegura.org/en/node/33631


http://gattina-writercramps.blogspot.com/2007/04/new-gun-law-in-belgium.html


http://www.expatica.com/be/news/local_news/new-weapons-law-comes-into-force--30641.html


One item about recent gun law changes in the Netherlands:

http://www.expatica.com/nl/news/local_news/gun-laws-to-be-tightened-22085.html

When I was overseas, personal firearms were kept in the unit's arms room (including mine).

You could also buy guns from the PX/BX (of local/regional manufacture).

I suspect being a U.S. service member you'll have different avenues of gun acquisition than the citizens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_law

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Germany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Italy

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=380036

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-51296.html


More out there via Google, but will take some time to filter it all.

P.S. You should probably also contact the Legal office of each base, and your local base TMO desk. They should have more info on hand, or be able to get it.

Bump............

Belgium chiming in here. I can't comment on your military status (which may make things more easy/difficult), but I can say something on handgun/AR-15 shooting:

- Italy: some calibres are restricted to LE/military (9mm para, for example)

- Germany: has some funky restrictions on semi-auto rifles which remind me of CA - limited mag capacity, no lasers or weapon lights, certain mounts are prohibited as well

- Holland: until recently, stocks needed to be permanently fixed

So, Belgium and Holland seem to place the least restrictions on the guns themselves. In all, I think Holland would be you best bet: there's a discipline called "dynamic service rifle" (no such thing in Belgium), and it's easier to find a range beyond 25-50 yards there.

You need to contact whoever's receiving you.

I was stationed in Augsburg Germany in 1970 and as a junior NCO I had to keep my firearms in the unit armory. I could check them out after submitting triplicate paperwork through my 1st Sgt.We had range time available twice a month weather permitting. We used a military pistol and rifle range plus had a trap and skeet course (for the Officers).
We had a Rod & Gun club and a sales store where I worked which was nice as I got to keep all the firearms wiped down and oiled.
I bought 4 long guns and 2 handguns while there and when I shipped out boy howdy that was another paperwork mess.
I also had the opotunity to go along on a Chamois hunt with a Major friend of mine which was a lot of fun.

+1 on what Rocketmedic said. Contact your gaining unit. Host nation laws are only part of the equation; the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) is the other. There are some foreign duty assignments where US servicemembers aren't alloowe to toake POWs at all.

I haven't been stationed overseas since the late 90s (Baumholder, Ger) and I didn't own any guns when I went. I bought two pistols (a SiG and an HK) from the Rod & Gun club when I was there. However, I understand that the R&Gs no longer sell firearms.

Your transportation office should have the info or the base legal office for firearms shipping and restrictions for your gaining location. What was good a few years ago is usually no longer valid so unless someone is currently at the locations you ask about, the info you get may be out of date.

DaveUSAF

Of course you are aware that unless your travel orders authorizes you to transport a firearm, you aren't going to take anything nor bring anything back.

Ron James said:

Of course you are aware that unless your travel orders authorizes you to transport a firearm, you aren't going to take anything nor bring anything back.

Click to expand...

Are "travel orders" anything like "PCS orders"?

As I recall, my PCS orders didn't say anything about anything being restricted.