Gun Control in the Third Reich

There's an awful lot that sounds very familiar in this book.  Some of the words could come from the CSGV or MDA today.

The story really starts in 1931, with the Law Against Unauthorized Use of Weapons. 
The police were given unbridled discretion in the issuance of permits and in enforcement of these laws, though as practice revealed, the police authorities  themselves were not neutral or even apolitical in their application of the law.

Lots of argument ensued:
A lively debate took place in legal circles.  Dr. Flegel, Senior Court-Martial Judge for the Navy... abhorred the recent increase in riots in which people were killed.  But the existing weapons laws that sought to address this violence were counterproductive, he argued in August 1931:

Are the authorities justified to call the carring of a weapon a "misuse" that is subject to punishment if the person carries the weapon exclusively for the purpose of self-defense, a right that every citizen has by law?  May a state, which is unable to protect life and liberty of its citizens from unlawful attacks, keep these citizens from exercising their right to self-defense?  It is clear that even a strong, but unarmed man will be helpless when confronted by an armed attacker.  The fact is that peaceful citizens who respect the law are forced to forego weapons because of the penalties contained in the weapons laws.  On the other hyand, peace breakers who intentionally violate law and order are not deterred by a prison term.

He concluded with the classic argument: "Allow the orderly citizen to carry the weapon he needs for his self-defense, but severely punish the person who actually misuses a weapon."
Makes just as much sense now as then, but the people who really wanted control ignored it then, too.

Then, as now, people did worry about registration lists: "What happens if someone of ill intent gets hold of these records?"  Which is exactly what happened when the Nazis came to power. 
Best became chief legal advisor to the Gestapo.  Anti-Hitler conspirator Has Gisevius noted, "It was Best who composed the notorious Boxheimer document, the first draft of the decrees which later made possible the Reign of Terror."  In this role, Best would actively pursue the disarming  of political opponents and Jews.  During World War II, Best would hold police power in occupied France and then Denmark, where it was decreed that any person who failed to surrender all firearms withing twenty-four hours would be executed.  This was the same twenty-four hour deadline he had formulated in 1931.


Registration lists led to a lot of things.  For instance,
An April 21 report "Permission to Possess Arms Withdrawn from Breslau Jews" described what was happening in Breslau(now Wroclaw, Poland), home to 10,000 Jews:

The Police President of the city has decreed that "All persons now or formerly of the Jewish faith who hold permits to carry arms or shooting licenses must surrender them forthwith to the police authorities."

The order is justified officially on the grounds that Jewish citizens of allegedly used their weapons for unlawful attacks on members of the Nazi organization and the police.

Inasmuch as the Jewish population "cannot be regarded as trustworthy," it is stated, permits to carry arms will not in the future be issued to any member thereof."

The Breslau police would have known the identities of such persons because they themselves had issued the firearm licenses and registrations that had been required by the 1928 and 1931 Weimer laws.  It was those same laws that authorized confiscation of firearms from persons not deemed "trustworthy".

And on, and on.  Then it became 'untrustworthy people and Jews cannot be issued a permit' anywhere in Germany and annexed/conquered territories.  With some interesting twists:
On October 4, 1938, just weeks before the Night of the Broken Glass(Reichskristallnacht), Berlin police arrested Alfred Flatow.  His crime: being a Jew in lawful possession of firearms.  The police knew he possessed firearms because he dutifully registered them in 1932 under the Weimer decree.  In anticipation of the coming pogrom, the Nazi leadership launched a campaign to disarm Jews.  Flatow was one of the man who were arrested and turned over to the Gestapo.  he would eventually be deported and die in a concentration camp.

Wonderful, no?


One more bit, from 1941:
...Also to be recorded were persons who purchased ammunition from dealers requiring a permit.  Identifying information included name, occupation, date and place of birth, street address, the type and serial number of the firearm, and the ammunition type.
Sounds a bit like California, doesn't it?

And I'm sure you've heard the 'The Nazis actually loosened gun laws!' line.  Well, yeah, IF:
Exempt from the compulsory registration were military officers, leaders of SS Special Assignment Troops, police officers, and higher political leaders.
So if you were a Party official or military/police, it was made easier for YOU...


There's really too much information here to go through picking and choosing: how the concern of 'bad elements' getting hold of registration lists happened, political enemies and Jews being disarmed, and on and on.  Well worth your time to read.