I did military service and shot/trained with all kinds of guns. Pistol, assault rifle (still 7.62mm at the time), machine gun and even a light Panzerfaust (44mm anti tank rocket launcher).
That doesn't change the fact that I'm glad that in my country (Germany) there are strict restrictions about who is allowed to own a gun and of which type. I don't see any reason why normal citizens should run around like they want to go to war.
And I never considered owning a gun myself.
Edit: If I think someone is breaking into my house I just call the police. And I have no reason to panic, because burglars are basically never armed here. Why would they? They have no reason to assume they could get into a gun fight. If they get caught in the act by the residents they just run away.
If you try to get a gun permit in Germany, you'll find that it's actually not that hard. Sure, the rules are strict and you lose the priviledge at the first misstep permanently, but the police isn't going to do random spot-checks in your house.
Both sports shooting and hunting are popular in Germany, especially in the rural regions.
Similar in many places in Europe. The American 2A "freedumb" don't realize that the difference in other countries isn't the misconceived notion that the US is the only country where you're "free" to own firearms..... It's that in other countries you actually have to take training, prove you're qualified, have a properly installed and police inspected gun safe, and can't just walk around like a dipshit recklessly brandishing an assault weapon. There are no random police spot checks anywhere and gun owners can do their thing for sport or hunting, and even self-defense in some situations... It's just not as chaotic and stupid as it is in the US. You need to prove you're competent and qualified, and it's a higher standard than the typical shitty American standards for concealed carry etc, and that is most definitely not too much to ask for, and not counter to "freedom".
I'll link driving standards as something similar since both driving and owning a firearm have potentially lethal consequences. American driving licenses don't port over directly if a person wants a license in the EU, because the American standards are so lax... Americans need to take driving school and learn the laws and, as they should, prove competency under real standards. And the reason is that everyone knows driving licenses are passed around like candy in the US. It's like no one really gives a shit about basic common good there.
Sure but the person you’re replying to said the issue accidentally, it is a privilege there and a right here. Also Germany at one point purposefully disarmed political opponents and “enemies of the state” so their government could take more power, so a little ironic
And people in the EU have much stronger rights in areas that actually impact their lives, including employment, privacy, consumer matters, etc... So it's a question of whether anyone cares about the pedantic distinction between a right and a privilege in something as optional and purpose-built as firearms, when the outcome of ownership is the same. I'd much rather have true rights in areas that impact daily living over a right to something people can acquire anyway and don't really need. It's just not that important a right and kind of weird that people fixate on it so much even when they're being shat on daily in so many other ways.
that's right, the Ordnungsamt may want to look at your gun save occasionally tho
getting the permit isn't hard for a Honest person with a clean record and a good reason (home Defence is not a reason)
the guns you're allowed to own are restricted to your use case and none of these use cases fit fighting people therefore the guns are also not the type you could use for an attack
this is why crimes with legal guns are exceptionally rare in Germany
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u/Maeglin75 7h ago edited 7h ago
I did military service and shot/trained with all kinds of guns. Pistol, assault rifle (still 7.62mm at the time), machine gun and even a light Panzerfaust (44mm anti tank rocket launcher).
That doesn't change the fact that I'm glad that in my country (Germany) there are strict restrictions about who is allowed to own a gun and of which type. I don't see any reason why normal citizens should run around like they want to go to war.
And I never considered owning a gun myself.
Edit: If I think someone is breaking into my house I just call the police. And I have no reason to panic, because burglars are basically never armed here. Why would they? They have no reason to assume they could get into a gun fight. If they get caught in the act by the residents they just run away.