Kabal/Jorg:
Was some of the motivation for German registration in the 1920s a result of the street fighting between Kommunisten and former WW1 soldiers?
I agree that this probably played a role, as well. There was a decree as early as in late 1918 to hand in weapons formerly owned by the military to government authorities.
The 1920 law was passed by an SPD (social Democrat) government in whose interest it was to disarm extremist and paramilitary organisations after the establishment of the regular Reichswehr.
hso said:
All legal firearms are registered (and much more) in Germany anyway so is this just announcing a central database?
Exactly – so far, information on gun owners and their weapons has been stored by local administrative offices. Now it will be stored in a central electronic database. This enables authorities to run checks more quickly.
Most German gun-owners do not like this. The implementation of the new system will cost tax-payers at least 50-100 million Euros. Furthermore, central registers have turned out to be susceptible to security attacks in the past. Legal gun-owners also feel like they are more and more likened to criminals when laws are passed that focus on them instead of those who own guns illegally.
However, it's not the big deal some people here make out of it.
In general, it is difficult to compare gun laws in America and Germany. There's just a different mindset when it comes to authorities, personal freedom etc.
Remember that here in Germany, government control and registration is not just limited to guns. For example, if I moved to a different place, I would need to register with the local authorities. Also, German citizens are obligated to always carry their ID cards or comparable documents with them and to be ready to present them to any police officer.
By the way, contrary to popular belief, Germany has more liberal gun laws than many other European countries, and gun ownership is not restricted to the rich elite.
Almost any determined individual with a clean sheet can legally obtain most handguns and long guns that an average American citizen can buy.
It just takes more time, paperwork and money, and there are certain restrictions on how many guns you can buy and in which timeframe you may do so.
It takes you about a year of regular shooting and a few hundred Euros (club fees, ammo costs, fees for gun classes including a theoretical and practical exam, legal fees, costs of buying an adequate gun safe) to obtain the right to acquire a firearm for sporting applications. If you then buy a used Glock, you've altogether spent around 1000 bucks.
This might sound a lot, but just for comparison:
According to a study of the German automobile club ADAC, average costs for obtaining a driver's license lie between 1371 and 2219 Euros, depending on where you live.
As you can see, it is not too difficult to get the right to legally own and shoot guns in Germany, as long as you are willing to deal with some paperwork and a few bureaucratic hurdles. However, the social acceptance of civilian gun-ownership is not as high as in the USA. Many people are not even aware of the possibility of owning firearms and will cast you bewildered glances when you tell them of your hobby. I have hardly met anyone who wasn't surprised when I told them that it's perfectly legal for them to join me at the range and shoot my guns if they want to.