Telling the Truth About the Nazis and Gun Control

"It was in 1919, Germany passed the Regulations on Firearm Ownership to comply with the Treaty of Versailles. Firearm ownership was banned because the Allied Powers demanded they disarm as a conquored and vanquished nation.

The ban was so strict that, as mentioned by Stephen Halbrook in 2000, that in times of unrest the mere possession of a handgun could result in immediate execution.

It was only in 1928 that Germany started to restore gun ownership with the Law on Firearms and Ammunition. This removed an outright ban on gun ownership, and instead required licenses for a multitude of firearms uses. A license on ownership. One to carry a gun with you. One to buy and sell. And gun sellers now were required to keep information about who they sold to and what serial numbers were sold.

It was an utter rebuke of the 1919 law, and restored gun ownership rights. Germany had gone from 'taking people's guns' to 'regulating gun ownership'.
And all of this before the Nazis took power in 1933.

That is not to say that the Nazis did not pass any laws relating to gun ownership while in power. In 1938, the German Weapons Act was passed to replace the 1928 law. So how much of a restriction was this on gun ownership?

The short answer: It was mostly an expansion. The longer answer: It was mostly an expansion as long as you weren't a Jew.

The only new restrictions in the law related to buying guns: you had to be someone whose 'trustworthiness is not in question' and could 'show a need for a permit'. Essentially there were background checks and you couldn't just buy a gun because it's a Tuesday and that's what you do on Tuesdays.

Also, Jews were now excluded from firearms manufacture, and in a law later that year would have the right to bear arms stripped from them.

The rest of the law?

-Lowered the age you could buy guns to 18.

-Lengthened how long firearm permits could go before expiration.

-People who held hunting permits or were members of the Nazi party were made immune from regulation.

-Permits to manufacture and sell guns were eliminated. The ability was no longer regulated by permits.

And interestingly the law deregulated all non-handgun purchases. If you wanted a shotgun or a rifle and ammo to boot, you didn't have any problems with the Nazi government
.
After World War II, gun ownership was banned again. The ban was to such a degree that German police could not bear arms. By request of the Allied Powers.

In 1956, private firearm ownership rights were restored to what was essentially the 1928 law.


The Nazis made it easier to own guns. Up to and including grenade launchers.

The only real asterisk to this statement is relating to the Jewish people, whose gun ownership rights were taken away two days following  Kristalnacht.

But even a few years earlier, the Nazi Party was starting to put pressure on the Jewish community. So while restricting gun ownership was certainly part of the Nazi's beginnings of its 'Final Solution', it is at best an ancillary piece of information when placed next to the seizure of businesses and property and the displacement of people from their homes."

Original Article on Daily Kos

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/09/1177643/-On-Gun-Control-and-Germans-Or-Why-the-Right-is-Wrong-about-Guns-and-Hitler