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Returning From Overseas With Guns


Brazos John

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The Wife and I are fixing to visit our Airman in Germany. We've never been overseas. What hoops do I have to jump through if'n I find a Luger or something that I can't pass up, and want to bring it home to Texas?

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A quote from the Customs Bureau website; https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/know-before-you-go/prohibited-and-restricted-items

 

 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) regulates and restricts firearms and ammunition and approves all permanent import transactions involving weapons and ammunition. If you want to import weapons or ammunition, you must do so through a licensed importer, dealer or manufacturer. Also, if the National Firearms Act prohibits certain weapons, ammunition or similar devices from coming into the country, you will not be able to import them unless the ATF provides you with written authorization to do so. If the firearm is controlled as a U.S. Munitions List article and it is temporarily imported to the United States, or it is temporarily exported, it may also require a Department of State license or need to meet the conditions for a license exemption.

 

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Well, dang. I knew my pards would have the answers, even if'n they're not what I wanted to hear, but y'all saved me hours of internet searching.

Mr Canby, thanks for the link. That made it official. 

Even if I find something that's a good deal, by the time I add importer fees and the like, it ain't no deal no more.

I had my hopes up, 'cause a friend told me about a mutual friend from Texas that married a German girl, and lived there for a few years. He befriended a bunch of older Germans that had "souvenirs" from the '40's that they didn't want (very bad memories), so they gave them to him. He sold them on ebay or elsewhere, and put his daughters through college. Double dang. Years late and a fortune short.

See y'all down the trail, or on the forum.

Brazos John

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 A few years ago I bought a pistol in Germany and submitted the paperwork to the ATF to import the pistol into American, I did not have to get any gun shops or anyone else involved,

Now for the downside......it took me 5 months to get the approval from the ATF. Flying back into the US with it was no problem.

I don't think most people would want to go through all of this, For what its worth I still have the pistol and all of the paperwork that it took to accomplish this. 

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6 minutes ago, Rattler John SASS#1866 LTG said:

 A few years ago I bought a pistol in Germany and submitted the paperwork to the ATF to import the pistol into American, I did not have to get any gun shops or anyone else involved,

Now for the downside......it took me 5 months to get the approval from the ATF. Flying back into the US with it was no problem.

I don't think most people would want to go through all of this, For what its worth I still have the pistol and all of the paperwork that it took to accomplish this. 

Dang it, Rattler, now I have Hope again. 

Thanks for your input.

Back to the internet........

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Brazos John, if you run into anyone that try's to tell you that it cannot be done, send me a message and I can talk you through it.

If your son is in the Air Force he would have problem doing this other than waiting on the paperwork.

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Thanks, Rattler, I'll be contacting you in the next couple of days. Gotta take my partner to the Mall now.

She's done teaching for the Summer, and there's a little money burning a hole in her purse.

Like I said, she's a teacher in Texas. It's more of a hobby than a profession.

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Howdy,

There are so may great ways to spend money right  here on this wire, or on gb or.....

Why even think about going overseas?

 

What I did one time was get a stack of euro spec car parts and put em on a car here.

It was a wonderful ride.  The car just kept falling apart.  Nice collection of hardware.

Best

CR

 

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The difficult part is purchasing the gun.  I was able to bring back several firearms when stationed in Germany but these were purchased from the Rod and Gun Clubs at the various Kasernes.   In order to purchase a firearm "on the economy" you had to have a Germany hunting license or belong to a sporting club for a year.   here is the link to the current status.

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/03/oliver-weiss/german-gun-laws/

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Shotgun Boogie would be the person to ask.  I've lived in Germany twice (Bavaria while in the Army & Frankfurt as a diplomat in the Consulate) and always hit the Flea Markets, never saw guns at all. Did use to visit a neat store in downtown Berlin, next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Kirche am KuDamm that had tons of realistic airsoft guns and knives. I worked Vienna, Austria and always visited a Militaria Shop across from the State Opera House that had tons of swords, knives, medals, PickelHaube hats and certain medals in hidden drawers. Never, ever saw a real gun in Germany except on the Marines and my Polozei colleagues.

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Son found a live cartridge on the beach in Israel. Neat keepsake he thought to take home.

 

On his way home he changed flights in Turkey.  Security found the single cartridge in his luggage.  They weren't happy.  They escorted him through an area of the airport that had zero other people.  Son though he might never see USA again.  He was interrogated for two hours before they escorted him all the way to his plane seat.  The plane had been held.

 

IMHO you will not find any "deals" that will offset the hassle of getting your "deal" back to the States.

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Don't know about Germany.. I do know  Aussies import guns from America all the time..lot of hoops to go through & the $$  of course add up but well worth it IMHO.....

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best to h avehim bring it back when he returns home unless he's in the dorm the have it shipped to your ffl here in the states try the rod and gun club if they have one.   check with outdoor rec if they don't who handle that on base.  they will know what to do.  you may have import fees or taxes no matter what.  and depending on the flight you may have to ship it back if the flight isn't direct to the states.

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Thanks for all of the replies. If I can't find anything, then it's no issue. I knew Germany would be different from the US, but it sounds like it's really different. If I find something, I'll post it here. But I enjoy all of the stories y'all have. Keep'em coming. Thanks.

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  • 4 weeks later...

When I was in Germany they would not allow a foreigner to purchase, you are correct Badlands Bob! I wanted a 3 bbl Drilling and eventually found an antique one here with no import marks on it! But knives can be a different story! 

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Thanks for the advice / warnings. Looks like I'll be looking into other souvenirs. Maybe a nice cane-sword.

We're heading out this morning. 

See y'all down the trail,

Brazos John

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5 hours ago, Brazos John said:

Thanks for the advice / warnings. Looks like I'll be looking into other souvenirs. Maybe a nice cane-sword.

We're heading out this morning. 

See y'all down the trail,

Brazos John

 

Be sure to mail it home. TSA will most likely confiscate it.

 

PVC pipe makes a great inexpensive  mailing tube

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I spent a great deal of time in Erlangen Germany and the surrounding areas, like; Nuremburg, Bamburg and the countryside nearby. I did not see one gun store. When I asked about gun stores I got a lot of sideways looks. I was told Americans can buy long guns but it's a real hassle. I never asked about handguns. I was in a "curio / antique shop" and asked a fella there about guns and gunshops and he told me that Germany only had 15 or 20 shops in the whole country. The nearest one to Erlangen was a 2 hour drive.

 

Check out the map in the link:

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=gun+shops+in+germany&rflfq=1&rlha=0&rllag=49834569,8461539,187679&tbm=lcl&tbs=lrf:!2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sEAE,lf:1,lf_ui:10

 

There is one listed called THE DUKE - Original American Gunshop. I would love to check this one out just to see what they have.

https://www.theduke.de/en/

The Euro is less expensive to buy than when I was there but the gun prices, in some cases,  are not as high as I was expecting. Check out the Colt SAA's they have in the used gun section. If the link comes up in German look to the top right of the screen for the US flag and click for English.

 

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Bought an antique cap and ball in Spain and I showed it to the guy in uniform and he dry shot his way ( especially if he knew them) to where it got placed in a box and added to luggage and brought home to CA.  Good luck with a modern one!

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I'm heading to Hamburg, Germany this weekend for the G20. Used to be stationed in Vilseck/Graf in the Army and in Wiesbaden/Frankfurt as a diplomat. Can't wait to get my JägerSchnitzel mit Spätzle und HefeWeizen!

Tschüß!

DS

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