Richard H wrote:Glad to hear. What were the improvements?
Firstly, the so-called "yellow" licence was significantly expanded (§ 14 Abs. 4 WaffG). It is now a universal acquisition and holding certificate allowing for the purchase of an unlimited number of single-shot rifles and shotguns of any caliber (that includes combined weapons), of all repeating rifles of any design (bolt action, lever action, pump action), of single-shot handguns and percussion revolvers.
Secondly, the procedure for acquisition of semiautomatic pistols and revolvers, repeating and semi-auto shotguns, and semi-auto rifles ("green" licence) has been streamlined and simplified, and has become distinctly easier. It is now the state-recognized shooting federation (§ 15 WaffG) that certifies individual proof of need, which decision is binding for the firearm office (§ 14 Abs. 2, 3 WaffG). Much more flexible and more lenient.
The only thing that I remember them complaining about was that you could no longer store them at home and they had to be stored at clubs, which had to install secured storage.
Must be another country *and* another era :-). The exact reverse is true. Storage in clubhouses was and is possible (and common for club guns), but the usual expected procedure is that each firearms license holder stores his own guns under lock and key (gun cabinet of specified classes of resistance, according to the number of firearms held).
Your description above however would render the situation in Allied-administered West Berlin from 1949 to 1989.
One negative point is the unchanged minimum age for shooting (12 years for shooting with airguns, 14 years for cartridge handguns). However, the granting of age exceptions - either for individual children, or for specific events - is within the mandate of the shooting federations, whose judgement of the case is binding for administration.
Best regards,
Alexander