In Germany you need a certified reason for owning a gun (hunting license or participation in shooting competitions), a gun safety test, a certified gun safe and all firearms need to be registered.
Carrying a gun in public for self defense is generally not allowed.

I’d say it’s a good amount of regulation. It doesn’t keep people from shooting as a hobby, I was able to fulfill all requirements even as a student, but it weeds out the extreme loners, wannabe cowboys and people looking to buy a gun spontaneously.

German here, I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a gun irl, except when used by the police or military. They are just not really a thing here. Nobody I’ve ever met owns one, nobody wants or needs one, nobody even talks about them.

There are legal ways to get a gun, but I never had to care about the details. That’s pretty amazing imo, if you consider how big of a topic and problem they are in the US.

Norway - Similar to many European countries, owning a gun requires a certifiable reason to do so, which basically means hunting or target shooting. Loads of guns here, as there’s a lot of moose and deer. Obtaining and owning a hunting rifle requires skill tests and a theoretical exam, and you need to be part of a hunting group.

ARs are banned for obvious reasons. The only exception is for people who are army reservists who are (were?) allowed to store their service weapon at home, if they have proper secure storage options available. This may have changed since I was a reservist myself, but those were the rules in 2007 at least.

Pistols are legal for target shooting, but with strict background checks and so forth. Plus you have to be part of a target shooting club. Getting a pistol is generally harder than a rifle, as a means of preventing pistols from ending up on the streets. Gun voilence happens, but it is extremely rare, and mostly tied to gangs and/or organized crime. Except from this asshole in 2011.

Carrying permit for guns is pretty much none existent. To/from hunting or shooting range.

Self defense is not a valid reason for obtaining and carrying a gun. You don’t really need it either. The only exception is Svalbard where is is possible due to polar bears. And even then, you can’t be an idiot about it; a few years ago this dumbass got permanently banned from the Svalbard territory after intentionally provoking a polar bear, then shooting it, claiming self defense.

India. Very strict gun laws. This law is enforced in the part of India that I live in. The only gunshots that I’ve heard in my life are from movies and video games. However, I did hold a gun in my hand once hehe. One of my friends’ dads had a gun license for some reason (I think he was a top level policeman or something). It was an unloaded black revolver that he was showing off to us kids lol. I remember being surprised at how much heavier it was than I thought it to be.

HOWEVER, in northern India (especially Uttar Pradesh), illegal guns are a very real thing. The law is very poorly enforced there. So yeah… There’s that.

Czech Republic here. I know there’s a license involved but other than that I have no clue how it works. Why should I know anything about gun regulations? It’s such a niche and unimportant thing…

I’m in the UK it’s nearly impossible to get a fire arm so many back ground checks and when you do it’s only shotguns

Guns are licensed strictly for hunting only and our kids come home from school without being shot.

In my country its not allowed for civilians to murder people with guns, even if they come to your house or look like another ethnicity. Cops still do it sometimes tho, but they usually use cars/boots

Switzerland: Lot of guns here, but there are background checks and every gun is accounted for as you have to send a copy of the receipt to the government. There are also other laws surrounding the whole topic like how to properly store them, how to transport guns etc.

But there are a lot of guns and basically no incidents. However the overall respect toward guns as well as strong social security probably go a long way.

Side note: I only ever once shot a gun. Went to a shooting range (friend of mine had to go there anyway for mandatory military shooting exercises), they had a range to shoot handguns. Applied, got one, did my 10 rounds and left. But there was strong supervision, one wrong move and they would take the gun away.

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Live in a third world country sort of famous for its gang violence and migrant caravans, and we have strict gun laws. Used to be you could buy semi auto rifles, now unless you got a good reason (like hunting), pistols are your best hope.

Honestly, at this point I wish we had an easier time getting a hold of them. It might be the help people in some areas need to drive gangs out their neighborhoods, cus I sure as hell ain’t trusting a pig not to take a bribe.

Edit: also, might make the government think twice about fucking with democracy or stepping over the common man.

Denmark here. You can’t buy guns unless it’s for hunting. That means only guns made for hunting are legal ofc.

Result: much more safe to live here.

Personally I think guns have no place in any society, unless it’s for sport like hunting or shooting competitions.

I’m from France. Getting a rifle is pretty easy, you “just” have to get a psych evaluation and a shooting club registration / hunting license. But that gets you long, manual weapons with small magazines. You can keep the gun if your license expires.

Then you can get a stronger license if your shooting club vets for you. This allows you to get handguns and semi auto rifles.

Any auto gun or explosive is basically only authorized for use for the military.

Oh and anything that can be used as a weapon is prohibited from being carried around in public spaces (yes, it is that vague), and protective equipment is subject to authorization as well (gas masks, bulletproof vests etc)

You can read more on Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearms_regulation_in_France

Edit: Wikipedia does not seem to explain it, but A class weapons are basically military only. B class is what you get through shooting club vetting. C class is for anyone registered by a club / hunting license. D is adults only, with exceptions for criminals etc

Netherlands here. You can get a permit for sport shooting or hunting. Guns for self defense are not allowed.

Any violence used to catch a burglary or somebody breaking in has to be a reasonable response. So if they have no weapon and you hit them with a baseball bat you are actually in trouble. This can be very frustrating but there is a point to it. Minimal violence is the name of the game here.

Even the police are trained to talk first and only resort to violence when absolutely necessary. Drawing a weapon as a cop means filling out paperwork and there will be a review to make sure it was the right move.

However, for sport shooting you have to join a shooting club and shoot competition. The first year you can only shoot with air guns.

If you get a gun for sport shooting, you have to have a safe for the weapon, grounded to the wall and the floor. It will be inspected and police can check on you at random times.

Ammo and weapon should be separated at all times, transport can only be done in cases.

You are not allowed to load the gun until you are basically ready to shoot. If you have to shoot five times, you are not allowed to load six shots. You can have a maximum of 5 guns. Assault rifles are not legal I think. There are no competitions with them, so you have no reason to buy them.

The rules are strict. We only had one big “recent” shooting and I think it is at least 10 years ago. I like it.

Of course criminals stil have guns, but for a random guy who lost his job and want to take revenge it is neigh impossible to just buy an AK47 and shoot all his colleagues. Quite a safe feeling actually.

New Zealand. Gun laws are pretty strict, though we have lots of farmers who have guns for defending livestock. You can own guns with a valid reason (e.g. recreational shooting, not self defense) but essentially the only two places they can be is in a locked safe or (being transported to) a gun range.

In addition any and all tools and weapons are illegal to carry for the purpose of self defense (knives, pepper spray, tazers, clubs, screwdrivers, etc.). There’s a crime epidemic here at the moment, corner stores being robbed by people with machetes, jewelry stores ram raided with trucks, but if you dare even carry pepper spray to defend yourself you can be jailed. Don’t bother calling the cops either, they won’t be there until at least half an hour later. Cops don’t care about robberies. We literally once had the dispatcher tell us that no police would be coming. It’s ridiculous.

I wish self defense laws were less crazy here, if someone enters your home or property armed with a weapon you should be able to respond appropriately without fear of going to jail yourself.