What was gun control in Germany like?

“What was gun control in Germany like?”

German patriots, including but not limited to, the National Socialists, believed that gun ownership was very important. This was because they were disarmed by deception and occupied by force, until 1923, and, until they could rearm, were subject to a threat of re-invasion at any time. I can’t find the exact quote at the moment, but in the book THE REVOLVER REPUBLIC by G.E.R. Gedys, about the French occupation of the Ruhr, anyone who reported a neighbour for illegal ownership of a firearm was very likely to be sentenced to death and killed by the so-called “Femegerichte”, a sort of vigilante organization. It was considered one’s patriotic duty to retain as many arms as possible to fight French occupation troops (and presumably German Communists) if necessary. National Socialist marches were unarmed but the Communist organizations (such as the Iron Front, etc.) were very heavily armed, with a membership of 100,000 men. Presumably the National Socialists owned many illegal arms as well, at least in the early days, and, as everyone knows, target practice was a favourite activity of the Hitler Youth. Indeed, this was one of the principal accusations made against Baldur von Schirach at Nuremberg. Almost any firearm can hit something a mile away, usually by accident, so that is really a very flimsy excuse. You can also be killed by hailstones. In Israel almost every adult owns a firearm.

The relevant National Socialist firearms legislation was translated and published by W. L. Pierce as GUN CONTROL IN GERMANY, 1928-1945 and is available [in excerpted form] here http://natvan.com/national-vanguard/assorted/gunhitler.html.

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