Gun ownership in DDR

[Paul Spain]

It appears (from episodes of Blaulicht,Der Staatsanwalt Hat Das Wort, & Polizeiruf 110 and also some movies I have saw) that citizens of the DDR (unlike U.S.S.R. or modern Russia) was allowed to own guns to a extent. In the U.S.S.R. and as far as I know it's being continued in modern Russia too, ONLY the police and army can have guns so this truely showed the DDR (while mostly following in step to Soviets) maintained a certain degree of independence from them.

[torstenbel]

I was a member of a gun club - shooting club - in the DDR when I was a teenager. In my town were the main East German Ammunitions Works (Sprengstoffwerk Schoenebeck) and the club was basically the work's club up on a hill right next to the factory. The club also served as the local Police shooting club in town (we also had the central arms repair workshop of the Bereitschaftspolizei based in Schoenebeck). I could not own or take these guns home with me, but I could use them at the club. I did have an air rifle at home.

There were also plenty of hunting clubs and associations and those guys owned their guns and kept them at home ... but I suspect that they needed to have a special licence for that.

Cheers, Torsten.

[torstenbel]

just looked it up and they even have their own website for the shooting club now http://www.hubertus-1990.de/ looking at the pics, the place has not changed all that much from when I was a member there 30 years ago ... Cheers, Torsten.

[Gene T]

Interesting. Was club membership an extension of GST training or was it open to anyone and everyone?

Also, what is the significance of "1703" below the eagle? I assume this club Wappen didn't exist prior to 1990?


Gene T

[Paul Spain]

[QUOTE=There were also plenty of hunting clubs and associations and those guys owned their guns and kept them at home ... but I suspect that they needed to have a special licence for that.

Cheers, Torsten.[/QUOTE]

Well then that is somewhat like the now days Germany..Everyone was bringing the tough guns laws there up after that school shoot out and about how you had to be a proven hunter to own guns and have a special license.

[uscob]

My Aunt also had a hunting License an kept several Guns at home.

[torstenbel]

Originally Posted by Gene T

Interesting. Was club membership an extension of GST training or was it open to anyone and everyone?
T

Club membership was open to anyone who was also a GST member. It was a GST club, but it was not an extension of any general GST training. It was basically run by the GST and sponsored by the ammunitions works ... the Wappen did not exist before 1990. Maybe I should know, but I have absolutely no idea why they have the 1703 in there? Cheers, Torsten.

[Ralph P]

Not sure if this thread will assist in discussion. However here it is.

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=363576

[Fritz]

There were other clubs outside the GST, I, for one, was a member of a Volkspolizei-Schützenverein.

Hunters etc. had their guns at home, also policemen etc.. If that was desired by either the policeman or his superiors.

Today there is more in homes I think as more is available. The restrictions, apart from the market, are more or less the same today in germany. When you are following a sport that requires a gun you can have one (or more), same for hunters etc..

The situation with body guards etc. may well be different today though. In the DDR you didn't need a body guard. If there was a problem with someone threatening some other person the VP usually solved it.



Then of course were a number of illegal, mainly ww2, weapons in homes. I remember a guy who had an armory that would allow him to equip an entire company. This guy's secret leaked out somewhen in the 60s and caused him huge troubles...He also was a poacher.

I know of a VP man who passed out drunk in an S-Bahn in Berlin, someone nicked all his stuff incl. the pistol. So illegal guns were available from various sources.

I also think that in the soviet union people were allowed to have a hunting rifle in their homes...especially on the countryside....?


Cheers

[Hagen]

Originally Posted by Fritz

Hunters etc. had their guns at home,

What kind of guns were you allowed to have for hunting?

[Fritz]

Originally Posted by Hagen

What kind of guns were you allowed to have for hunting?

All standard hunting rifles incl. shot guns, Sport - und Jagdwaffenwerke Suhl was a quality maker in the DDR.

I think though that hunting rifles had (and have) a limitation by law as to how many rounds you can put in there at once...I think 1, 2 and 3 depending on what you needed (what game you were hunting).

Sports rifles (at least today) allow a larger magazine capacity than hunting rifles.

Cheers

[vacollector]

Was the K98 made avialable to public? I DDR armories had a lot of them left over.

[Hagen]

Originally Posted by Fritz

All standard hunting rifles incl. shot guns, Sport - und Jagdwaffenwerke Suhl was a quality maker in the DDR.

I think though that hunting rifles had (and have) a limitation by law as to how many rounds you can put in there at once...I think 1, 2 and 3 depending on what you needed (what game you were hunting).

Sports rifles (at least today) allow a larger magazine capacity than hunting rifles.

Cheers

Thanks Fritz!

[uscob]

Originally Posted by vacollector

Was the K98 made avialable to public? I DDR armories had a lot of them left over.

No. As it is an Ex-Military Rifle. To my knowledge, only civy made Weapons were allowed.

[AR-11]

Originally Posted by vacollector

Was the K98 made avialable to public? I DDR armories had a lot of them left over.

my father was member of a hunting club in the Harz-mountains during the 1970-1980ies. He had two hunting rifles at home: a "Zwilling" and a modified Karabiner K98. This one I used further a few years during my time as member of a gunners club near Bitterfeld.

AR-11