I am in the process of booking a Red Deer/Boar hunt. How difficult is it to import my rifle into Germany ?

Any info on how to start the process is greatly appreciated...........

JJ, are you intending to hunt in Germany?? If yes, the owner of the area where you'll hunt (or the guy arranging the hunt) must approach the local authorities ("Landratsamt") where the hunt is taking place, and obtain a temporary permission for you to have your rifle in your possession. This you'll present to Customs when you arrive in Germany.

If you just happen to pass through Germany on your way to hunt elsewhere, things get a lot more complicated. There used to be a form you could fill out (in triplicate) for transits, but the last time we tried it (last fall), the Customs officers informed us this procedure was no longer valid. I have a feeling it might be best to avoid Germany if you are simply transiting with firearms.

- mike

mho, I will be hunting in Germany, no transit issues involved. Is it really as simple as a single form ? Thats great, thanks........JJ

Last year when Mike and I crossed the border into Germany I only had a faxed copy of my invitation letter and German hunting license.

Mike will correct me if I'm wrong, but the form we (he) had carefully found and filled out in advance was useless, and the border police only wanted originals of the invitation and license.

They ended up calling the issuing authority. Luckily enough someone answered the phone and was able to confirm my bona fides.

I think with original invitation letter and hunting license in hand when we arrived at the border we would have sailed through quite simply.

At least that's what I remember of the process from 12 months ago.

cheers,
- stu

JJ, I do believe there is only one application to be made to obtain the gun permit. I'm not sure if you can make the application for your (temporary) gun license, though. I think that has to be done by the people you hunt with, or the people who arrange the hunt. But since you'll need a hunting license issued anyway, the gun license can probably be arranged for by the same person - although the issuing authority may be different (depending on the exact rules of the state in which you hunt). I do believe that if you get your hunting license, then getting the firearms license should be a formality, though.


Stu, I believe you need a gun license/permit separate from that of your hunting license. A hunting license is not the same as a gun permit in Germany, although a valid hunting license will provide you with the reason to obtain your gun permit. Different pieces of paper, if somewhat related. At that border crossing, we were exceptionally lucky, that 1) the Customs officers took pity on us and tried to be most helpful, and 2) that they managed to contact somebody (who knows where?), who could provide documentation they deemed satisfactory for the import.

In your case, the problem was that the issuer of your hunting license and/or the person who arranged the hunt for you, had not ensured this additional permission (gun possesion/import) had been obtained. Both parties may have been unaware of what was required, or simply forgotten it?? In principle the guy who arranged the hunt should have known, as he had people coming in from abroad on a regular basis - although they may have been holders of EU Firearms Licences, which would replace the German license. We, on the other hand, were of the belief the old (form based) import method was still valid, so we did not persist in obtaining the correct documentation.

- mike

JJ, Mike & Stu,

Whew! Good question.

I just called my local lisencing authorities (they are great at fielding my off-the-wall quetions) and they related the requirements for a TEMPORARILY importing a LONG GUN (Rifle or Shotgun) into Germany for hunting purposes is based on the issuance of a Temporary 14-Day Hunting License (Deutsche Tagesjagdschein). They realted to me the three requirements for Temporary Import are:

1. Proof of Personal Property. Proof rifle/shotgun is their's. Actually Europeans want to see a form of License but in the US we don't have such - Thankfully!).
2. For Hunting Purposes.
3. The Rifle/Shotgun will be taken out of the country with the person when they depart.

Based on their input (and I've every reason to believe it's 100&% reliable) the process should work something like this:

1. The person must declare the rifle at German Customs when entering Germany (we all have to do this anyway).

2. The person must already be in possession of a valid, (signed, most forget to sign it!) Temporary 14-Day German Hunting License. This is the demonstrated purpose part.

3. The Temporary Import is for Hunting Purposes. This is accomplished with the German Temporary Hunting License in conjunction with either an Invitation Letter or Jagderlaubnisschein (Hunting Allowance Certificate) which is legally required for someone to hunt on another person's Lease here in Germany anyway.

4. They have to proove the Rifle/Shotgun is their personal property. Since most US States don't have licenses this is done via the US Customs Form XXXX (forget the EXACT Form # but it is the US Form required by American Customs for US citizens to re-Import property into the United States prooving it was not purchased abroad).

5. Declare to German Customs that the Import is TEMPORARY, and the property will depart with the person when they leave the country - this is accomplished with the same US Customs Form above.

Whew!

Sound like a mouthful but ought to be pretty straight-forward.

Straight from the horse's mouth! So Gerry, I seem to have misunderstood, that there is a separate piece of paper (obtained from the Landratsamt - or wherever - much like a temporary Waffenbesitzkarte) which is required for possession and import?? Your hunting license on top of proof of ownership seems to be sufficient??

- mike

Mike,

There may be a German Customs Form for the person temporarily importing thier firearm; quite frankly - I dummo but imagine the German penchant for paperwork would surely include such.

Thanks alot for all the work and info guys............JJ