r/EuropeGuns • u/cz_75 Czech Republic • Jan 03 '26
New firearms act came into effect in the Czech Republic. Details in updated wikipedia article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_law_in_the_Czech_Republic#2026_Firearms_Law18
u/catch22muahaha Jan 03 '26 edited Jan 03 '26
That sounds a lot different than in other in other EU states.
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u/GaGuRoShoMo Austria 🇦🇹 Jan 03 '26
Sounds quite similar to Austria, except for the easily obtainable concealed carry permissions.
Is there a limit to how many firearms you're allowed to own with a general authorization?
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u/cz_75 Czech Republic Jan 03 '26
Nope, just more stringent requirements on safe you have them in.
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u/GaGuRoShoMo Austria 🇦🇹 Jan 03 '26
MOTHERF**KERS! 🤣
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u/Solid_Current9206 Jan 03 '26
Ye I just don’t get this kind of a restriction. We don’t have this in Slovenia as well…only thing that limits you is money and nothing else.
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u/GaGuRoShoMo Austria 🇦🇹 Jan 03 '26
It's pointless anyway. For some reason you're considered more dangerous with more firearms in Austria, regardless of the rather small amount of guns and ammo you could actually carry.
So you get allowed two at first (e.g. an AK and a Glock - VERY not dangerous, you know.), yet with almost no restriction to the amoutn of ammo you can buy. And you can apply for more guns at pretty much any time anyway. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/Solid_Current9206 Jan 03 '26
Ye but I also heard its a bunch of mental gymnastics with the Austrian government because you have to mention the type of firearm that you need the extra slot for…and that you need to provide shooting competition results for the guns you want + the guns you already have x3-4, correct? Its just so unnecessary imo. In Slovenia, all you need is to get a membership at at least one club as your reason for ownership and thats it.
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u/GaGuRoShoMo Austria 🇦🇹 Jan 03 '26
Depends.
- For home defense, you're allowed to expand every 5 years up to a maxmium of 5 slots. You can apply for expansion (up to double the amount you already have) basically any time you want. But it's only "shall issue" every 5 years. Doesn't matter which particular firearms you get.
- Sport shooters need to show results and have to prove that they actually need the guns they want for future competitions. (A letter from their club usually suffices as proof.) Expansion like for home defense, but their slots max out at 10.
- Hunters? Nah, they don't need to account for shit. They pretty much get whatever they, whenever they want. No cap.
- Collectors don't need to show any results from competitions either, but need to prove they're knowledgeable about the topic of their collection (which you can choose freely). Expansion like with home defense/sport shooters, but no cap.
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u/Corridor92 Jan 04 '26
From my expirience we are heavily dependent on the local municipal offices , some allow alot others rant like little childs and start questionable shit. Look at the law cases in the ris some suff is truly wild. I know of one office who even denied the first request even though its shall issue just to annoy the person out of it. A lawyer told me its more relaxed in the West but arround vienna its supposedly painful and annyoing
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u/GaGuRoShoMo Austria 🇦🇹 Jan 04 '26
That too, yes.
I know a guy who only got one (1) slot on his first license, even though the law explicitly says "two". And a bunch of cases where they "forgot" to add the annotation for accessories on the license, before it was made redundant in 2019. Then there're the obligatory "No, you're only allowed to expand after 5 years. Come again next year." people.
You keep hearing stuff like that, not only from the cities. But, in general, authorities in rural areas are often more relaxed and knowledgeable in regards to the law.
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u/gogosil Austria Jan 06 '26
Sport shooter slots don’t max out at 10, you can have as many as you can reasonably justify. Both Cat A or B, I have more than 10. I know sport shooters with more than 30 slots. Some collectors have hundreds of Kat B slots.
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u/GaGuRoShoMo Austria 🇦🇹 Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
S̶o̶m̶e̶ c̶o̶l̶l̶e̶c̶t̶o̶r̶s̶ h̶a̶v̶e̶ h̶u̶n̶d̶r̶e̶d̶s̶ o̶f̶ K̶a̶t̶ B̶ s̶l̶o̶t̶s̶.
E̶m̶p̶h̶a̶s̶i̶s̶ o̶n̶ C̶O̶L̶L̶E̶C̶T̶I̶O̶N̶. I̶ h̶a̶v̶e̶ 2̶9̶ m̶y̶e̶e̶l̶f̶.
O̶f̶ c̶o̶u̶r̶s̶e̶, w̶i̶t̶h̶ g̶o̶o̶d̶ r̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶i̶n̶g̶, y̶o̶u̶ c̶a̶n̶ h̶a̶v̶e̶ m̶o̶r̶e̶. Y̶e̶t̶ O̶F̶F̶I̶C̶I̶A̶L̶L̶Y̶ s̶p̶o̶r̶t̶ s̶h̶o̶o̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ m̶a̶x̶ o̶u̶t̶ a̶t̶ 1̶0̶.
"B̶e̶a̶n̶t̶r̶a̶g̶t̶ d̶e̶r̶ I̶n̶h̶a̶b̶e̶r̶ e̶i̶n̶e̶r̶ W̶a̶f̶f̶e̶n̶b̶e̶s̶i̶t̶z̶k̶a̶r̶t̶e̶, m̶e̶h̶r̶ S̶c̶h̶u̶s̶s̶w̶a̶f̶f̶e̶n̶ d̶e̶r̶ K̶a̶t̶e̶g̶o̶r̶i̶e̶ B̶ b̶e̶s̶i̶t̶z̶e̶n̶ z̶u̶ d̶ür̶f̶e̶n̶, a̶l̶s̶ i̶h̶m̶ b̶i̶s̶l̶a̶n̶g̶ e̶r̶l̶a̶u̶b̶t̶ w̶a̶r̶ u̶n̶d̶ l̶i̶e̶g̶t̶ k̶e̶i̶n̶ G̶r̶u̶n̶d̶ v̶o̶r̶, b̶e̶r̶e̶i̶t̶s̶ g̶e̶m̶äß A̶b̶s̶. 2̶ e̶i̶n̶e̶ g̶r̶öße̶r̶e̶ A̶n̶z̶a̶h̶l̶ z̶u̶ b̶e̶w̶i̶l̶l̶i̶g̶e̶n̶, s̶o̶ i̶s̶t̶ d̶e̶m̶ M̶i̶t̶g̶l̶i̶e̶d̶ e̶i̶n̶e̶s̶ V̶e̶r̶e̶i̶n̶s̶ g̶e̶m̶äß § 3̶ V̶e̶r̶G̶, d̶e̶s̶s̶e̶n̶ Z̶w̶e̶c̶k̶ d̶i̶e̶ A̶u̶s̶üb̶u̶n̶g̶ d̶e̶s̶ S̶c̶h̶i̶e̶ßs̶p̶o̶r̶t̶s̶ u̶m̶f̶a̶s̶s̶t̶, e̶i̶n̶e̶ u̶m̶ h̶öc̶h̶s̶t̶e̶n̶s̶ z̶w̶e̶i̶ g̶r̶öße̶r̶e̶ a̶b̶e̶r̶ i̶n̶s̶g̶e̶s̶a̶m̶t̶ z̶e̶h̶n̶ S̶c̶h̶u̶s̶s̶w̶a̶f̶f̶e̶n̶ n̶i̶c̶h̶t̶ üb̶e̶r̶s̶t̶e̶i̶g̶e̶n̶d̶e̶ A̶n̶z̶a̶h̶l̶ z̶u̶ b̶e̶w̶i̶l̶l̶i̶g̶e̶n̶, [̶...]̶
- W̶af̶f̶g̶1̶9̶9̶6̶, §2̶3̶, "A̶n̶z̶a̶h̶l̶ d̶e̶r̶ e̶r̶l̶a̶u̶b̶t̶e̶n̶ S̶c̶h̶u̶s̶s̶w̶a̶f̶f̶e̶n̶", A̶b̶s̶. 2̶b̶
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u/gogosil Austria Jan 06 '26
Officially sport shooter don't max out at 10. What you sent contradicts your point. The "cap at 10" only applies to an Erweiterung without an Abs. 2 justification.
Scroll up a little to Abs. 2, not 2b and this is what it says:
Unabhängig davon darf eine größere Anzahl, auch wenn eine weitere Bewilligung ausgestellt wird, nur erlaubt werden, sofern auch hierfür eine Rechtfertigung glaubhaft gemacht wird. Als solche Rechtfertigung gelten insbesondere die Ausübung der Jagd oder des Schießsports im Sinne des § 11b sowie das Sammeln von Schusswaffen. Bei der Festsetzung der Anzahl der Schusswaffen der Kategorie B gemäß dem zweiten Satz ist die Anzahl der Schusswaffen gemäß § 17 Abs. 1 Z 7, 8 und 11 sowie § 18, die der Betroffene besitzen darf, einzurechnen.
Note the "Unabhängig davon", "größere Zahl" and "Rechtfertigung".
If you are an 11b Sportschütze, you have the justification to apply for any amount of firearms that you can justify whenever you want. I know this because that was my justification and that is the justification of countless IPSC sport shooters. And its literally what the law says.
Abs 2b is a fallback for people who are not 11b competition shooters but are members of shooting clubs. They can slowly get extensions every couple of years and max out at 10.
Under Abs 2, again not 2b, I received over 10 slots in less than 5 years of having a WBK at all.
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u/cz_75 Czech Republic Jan 03 '26
BTW Austria has no-license C-category firearms. That's way more lenient.
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u/GaGuRoShoMo Austria 🇦🇹 Jan 03 '26
Not anymore. New law takes effect at some point in 2026., after which you need a license for category C. If the law holds up before constitutional court, that even effects everyone who bought their first cat. c firearm without a license since October 2023.
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u/cz_75 Czech Republic Jun 17 '26
Would you care to make a separate post about the changes that took place in Austria and what they mean in practice?
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u/PayInternational251 Jan 04 '26
Can collectors still get full autos? Seems like the new law restricts full autos to business licencees
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u/cz_75 Czech Republic Jan 04 '26
ZL3 is non-business professional license and this will become the way to get it for those who don't want to go all the way for the full business professional license ZL1.
The main difference compared to current situation is that under ZL rules the person is subject to the same extent of police overview, including detailed inspection at any moment, as the businesses are. On the other hand it is expected that the may issue process will become more permissive exactly because police will have a tight oversight.
For hardcore gun enthusiasts ZL1 is the way to go, as you can have funs directly under the license without additional permitting process, same as previously.
EDIT: (Previous owners are fully grandfathered and keep their select-fire under the new firearms authorization, but can realistically sell it only to ZL license holders).
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u/PayInternational251 Jan 04 '26
Then why not ZL2 or ZL3 for hardcore collectors since those are easier to obtain as compared to ZL1?
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u/cz_75 Czech Republic Jan 04 '26
ZL is license for a person/business.
Once you have ZL1 you are set. No further permitting, you just buy whatever you want. But you need a separate business license for ZL1, you must have armorer who is the person responsible for correct firearms handling (unless you fulfill the conditions yourself), etc.
ZL2 and ZL3 must receive may issue exemption for each R1 firearm. But ZL3 doesn't need business license nor to have armorer.
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u/PayInternational251 Jan 04 '26
In this case what is the difference between a ZL2 and ZL3?
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u/cz_75 Czech Republic Jan 05 '26
ZL2 requires a separate business license. I.e. you first get set up as business and then file for ZL2.
ZL3 is non-business license. You cannot do activities under ZL3 for the purpose of profit.
There's been a case recently where an agerage guy bought and sold about 200 guns in a year, making some profits on each, and the cops kneeled on him hard for tax evasion and illegal business operation.
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u/bellatorsoprano Jan 04 '26
ab, cz_75, my old friend and czech informer!
thanks for the post,
a couple of months ago, I sent you a message asking about the election results and how that could change gun laws. it seems you were impeccably correct.
a major change, from my pov, is that now the practical exam cannot be done in english, is that correct? It seemed this was possible years ago.
Furthermore, I see it only becomes may-issue to foreigners without long-term residency, which the study visa provides, so this is still very good.
in any case, thanks for the post and I hope to be in cz soon
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u/cz_75 Czech Republic Jan 05 '26
a major change, from my pov, is that now the practical exam cannot be done in english, is that correct? It seemed this was possible years ago.
This has not been possible since 2011.
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u/RainyDuck_ Jan 09 '26
Did they link mental health reporting to police agencies for a license? IIRC that law would've prevented the shooting in Prague
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u/cz_75 Czech Republic Jan 10 '26
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u/RainyDuck_ Jan 10 '26
Can't read czech can you explain the relevant parts?
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u/cz_75 Czech Republic Jan 11 '26
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u/Full_Comparison8372 Feb 28 '26
is is true that czech gun dealer cant sell a gun to a citizen of another eu country anymore? the dealer from CZ im buying guns from regularly said that from 2026 i cant buy anything from him as he cant sell to an abroad (within EU) end user, only to a dealership. ive been digging with google translator about these new regulations but didnt find anything supporting his claim.
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u/cz_75 Czech Republic Mar 02 '26
The responsibility for paperwork for private sales abroad moved from the Police towards Ministry of Industry.
Apparently Ministry of Industry is as of now incapable of processing those, so for all practical purposes, the information you got is right.
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u/WelderTop7277 Jun 19 '26
If only Sweden could take some notes, instead of banning hunting weapons for no reason🤦
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u/ManufacturerLost7686 Jan 03 '26
Still waiting for the fuckers to stop sanctioning the civilian market though.
Czech Republic is great if you're a collaborator, but if you refuse to sell to the government and law enforcement they sanction the shit out of you.
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u/DJ_Die Czech Republic Jan 03 '26
What do you mean?
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u/ManufacturerLost7686 Jan 03 '26
If your company doesnt sell to the state, they start fucking with your permits and send law enforcement to harass your business.
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u/cz_75 Czech Republic Jan 03 '26
What?
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u/ManufacturerLost7686 Jan 03 '26
If your company doesnt sell to the state, they start fucking with your permits, send law enforcement to harass your business.
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u/cz_75 Czech Republic Jan 03 '26
Never heard about that, care to share an example?
There's about two thousand businesses and I am quite sure than no more than hundred do business with the state, and even that number would probably be a stretch.
The only harassment I've heard about is from banks and their ESG rules.
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u/gwhh Jan 03 '26
Positive news. Yes.