Germany (VI): Gun ownership - Page 5

On July 15 2012 05:22 Lorizean wrote:
Sorry for necroing this thread, but I felt like giving my thoughts

About self defense:
First of all, you are not allowed to shoot somebody just for entering your property or even breaking into your house etc.
There has to be a clear threat to you or another human being and there has to be a certain comparability. Meaning, you are not allowed to shoot somebody who attacks you with his fists, if he slashes at you with a knife or threatens you with a gun, then you are allowed to use your own. This is how it was explained to me during my hunting license courses, I can look for sources if you need me to.

On February 24 2014 18:45 zatic wrote:

This is another necro, but I believe this is important as it is another misconception common in Germany. In terms of self defense, you can absolutely use deadly force in self defense. And your can rightly defend not just your life, but also your physical well being, property, freedom with deadly force.

The key point is that in Germany you are asked to use the mildest form of force available to you. But if that happens to be a firearm, you can absolutely shoot someone breaking into your home in self defense. Contrary to popular belief there is no requirement for proportionality between the harm that is coming at you and the kind of force you use to defend from it.
The law makes a point to avoid "gross disproportionality", meaning that you most likely can't shoot dead an 8yo kid who is stealing berries from your garden in self defense. But in general self defense legislation allows measures way more robust than most people believe.

On March 30 2014 08:11 cristo1122 wrote:

As you say above there is no requirement for proportionality between harm coming at you and force you use to defend, are you required to challenge a person for this to be the case or is it in true in all situations?

e.g. you find someone in your house are you required to order them to halt/stop/freeze before you can use lethal force or is the action of them stepping towards you enough to satisfy the law

On March 30 2014 08:22 zatic wrote:

I am not a lawyer - but from my understanding there is certainly no legal requirement for a warning specifically. So in general no I don't think you are required to confront a burglar before you use force.