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NAZI GUN LAWS







Weimer Republic

A liberal German government introduced the world's first national gun registration scheme in 1928 in response to public shootouts between Nazi and communist street gangs. It had no discernible effect on the violent crime rate in Germany.


Nazis gain power

Upon coming to power in 1933 the Nazis used these laws to systematically disarm people they deemed "enemies" of the German people like Jews, which some gun rights advocates would have us believe prevented Jews from stopping the Holocaust.


Armed Jews

It is farcical for gun rights advocates to assert that Jewish civilians could have stopped the Holocaust if only they had ready access to firearms as they only constituted a tiny disorganized minority in areas under Nazi control, though some able-bodied Jews would undoubtedly have been able to put up more resistance as in the case of the Bielski Partisans.


Reliable People

The primary goal of Nazi gun laws was to ensure that only "reliable" people like Nazi Party members had guns in order to help prevent an uprising by the general population after it murdered democracy or began murdering civilians they deemed "enemies" of the German people. An uprising that the German Army may have refused to put down or even have supported.


Missed Opportunity

The Nazis were acutely aware that they only ever gained one third of the popular vote in national elections in 1932 and only managed to get a foothold on power by forming a [short lived] coalition government with mainstream nationalists who mistakenly thought they could "control" Hitler. The general population could have stopped the Holocaust but lacked the practical means to take on Hitler's militias (SA and SS) and lacked a commitment to protecting minorities.


Harmful Speech

Widespread gun ownership is undoubtedly a deterrent to tyranny and associated crimes, but only if the general population is committed to defending democracy and minorities. Thus governments and NGOs must instill a love of democracy and minorities in the general population and promote the ownership of service rifles by able-bodied adult civilians of good character in order to defend both; ideally via a state militia open to all such adults.


SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

1. Jewish civilians could not have stopped the Holocaust even if they were all armed as they were only a tiny disorganized minority.

2. Nazi gun laws were primarily designed to ensure that only "reliable" civilians owned guns in order to prevent an uprising by the general population after the Nazis murdered democracy or began murdering civilians.


RECOMMENDATIONS

Instill a love of democracy and minorities in the general population and promote the ownership of military service rifles by able-bodied adult civilians of good character in order to defend both; ideally via a state militia open to all such adults.




Primary Sources
Death by "Gun Control": The Human Cost of Victim Disarmament (2001), A. Zelman & R.W. Stevens. Mazel Freedom Press.

Shooters: Myths and Realities of America's Gun Cultures (2004), A. Kohn. Oxford University Press.