Date: Thu, 18 May 1995 00:29:25 -0500 Reply-To: H-GERMAN EDITOR Dan Rogers Sender: H-NET List on German History From: H-GERMAN EDITOR Dan Rogers Subject: Re: Query: Nazi Gun Laws There are three messages below: 1) Submitted by: Ian Gregory Beilin Professor Ledford: Could you tell us more about the 'Nazi Gun Law of 18 March 1938'? Do you (or anyone else on the list) know about this law from sources other than the book published by the Milwaukee-based group you mention? Does anyone perhaps know if firearms were even widely available in Germany in the 1930's or whether there was any demand (both pre-1933 and post-1933)? Ian Beilin Columbia University igb5@columbia.edu 2) Submitted by: Eric Kohler There was a prohibition that year against Jews having firearms. As I understand it, there were laws circumscribing the private ownership of firearms dating back to the Bismarckian era, if not before. Certainly such laws were enforced in Prussia during the Weimar Era. See Jim Diehl's book, -Paramilitary Forces in the Weimar Republic- Eric Kohler (Ulyanov@Uwyo.Edu) 3) Submitted by: Helen Liebel-Weckowicz Ken Ledford, could you summarize the gun legislation of 1938 of the NS era in Germany? It would be in the Reichsgesetzblatt probably. The right to have arms apertained to the free warrior class in earlier times, though weapons for hunting seem to have existed in abundance since the human species began. The weapons for defense and hunting were those of the nobles and freemen who formed the infantry. Thus, where serfdom disappeared some centuries ago, the right of free to bear arms has been written into law. This never means that bandits, outlaw bands, or unorganized persons can go around armed. It is always assumed that the free men constitute a reserve army for defense. In chartered towns there was usually an arsenal in the armory or the city hall. Weapons were handed out when needed for defense. The status of vigilante organizations is less clear. They form during times of unrest, e.g. 1848 revolution in Europe. .