• Warl0k3@lemmy.world
    44·
    19 days ago

    While it takes some effort for German citizens to legally buy and carry loaded firearms, it’s entirely prohibited to own any weapons of war. According to Insider, the man violated the Weapons Control Act by possessing military-grade weapons. His lawyers, however, argued that because most of his collection was non-functioning, he could not be charged. (source)

    TL;DR He lost the whole collection because of all the stuff like the working machineguns and flak ammunition he had laying around, in addition to the tank.

    • OwOarchist@pawb.socialEnglish
      27·
      19 days ago

      His lawyers, however, argued that because most of his collection was non-functioning, he could not be charged.

      Yeah … I don’t think that “most of it is non-functional” argument is going to hold up in court when it’s illegal to own even one functional piece.

      Now, if he could say that all of it was non-functional, then maybe they’d have a point. But, yeah … there’s a reason they’re not making that argument, isn’t there?

      • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
        20·
        19 days ago

        Yep, and from what I remember (this all happened like 5 years ago) the court said basically the same thing (“What do you mean he mostly didn’t break the weapons control act??”) and that’s why they took his tank away

        • Shayeta@feddit.orgEnglish
          11·
          19 days ago

          Well, the tank was ENCLOSED in a reinforced room - it had no way of exiting that room and was thus “non-functional”!

          • crater2150@feddit.org
            11·
            19 days ago

            I don’t think it had no way of exiting:

            It was common knowledge in town that the homeowner owned a tank, a man who grew up there told Stern. The tank even proved useful for clearing snow during the 1978 snowstorm. A news report mentions how the tank driver helped someone pull out trees

            Original text in German

            Im Ort sei bekannt gewesen, dass der Hausbewohner einen Panzer besaß, sagte dem stern ein Mann, der in dem Ort aufgewachsen ist. Der Panzer habe sogar in der Schneekatastrophe 1978 gute Dienste beim Schneeräumen geleistet. In einem Pressebericht ist die Rede davon, wie der Panzerfahrer jemandem beim Herausziehen von Bäumen geholfen habe

            https://www.stern.de/panorama/weltgeschehen/panzer-im-keller---84-jaehriger-waffenfan-bekommt-mildes-urteil-30643576.html

    • Noctambulist@lemmy.world
      11·
      19 days ago

      Owning firearms in Germany isn’t really that difficult although you must invest considerably more time and money than in countries like the US. Legally carrying them in public is a whole other story. Unless you work as something like a judge or prosecutor or have some serious death threats against you, the chance of getting a license approved is extremely low.

  • alleycat@feddit.orgEnglish
    18·
    19 days ago

    It is definitely legal to own a decommissioned, but otherwise functional tank in Germany. I know that the owner of my local scrapyard had a Russian tank that he liked to drive on his property. I suspect the guy in the OP had some other stuff, that was illegal to own…

    • TheTiltster@feddit.org
      9·
      18 days ago

      He actually did (in a non-violent capacity). Dude hat this tank since at least the 1970s. In 1978, Hamburg Kiel was hit by a massive blizzard that stopped all regular traffic. The guy used his tank to drive around town.

        • TheTiltster@feddit.org
          4·
          18 days ago

          Well, the guy was a selfdeclared “merchant” and collector in all things connected to the third Reich. Neighbours had known about his tank at least since the 1970s, when he used his toy during the blizzard. Accordung to documents, he even had Bundeswehr specialists at his house on a regular basis to do repairs and maintenance to keep the tank in driving condition. The full extend of his “basement museum” came to light when federal investigators did a search of his house in connection with two statues from Hilters Reichskanzlei. The tank wasn´t even the highets priority for investigators. He also had a f**k ton of live ammunition and other weapons of war. Here´s a nice summary (in german): https://de.everybodywiki.com/Klaus-Dieter_Flick