“… far more onerous than the restrictions found in this Nation.”

In McDonald v. Chicago, Justice Stevens stated in dissent that “the experience of other advanced democracies . . . undercuts the notion that an expansive right to keep and bear arms is intrinsic to ordered liberty. Many of these countries place restrictions on the possession, use, and carriage of firearms far more onerous than the restrictions found in this Nation.”

In Germany, petitioners today submitted a constitutional complaint challenging the federal law regulating arms (Waffengesetz) to the Federal Constitutional Court, arguing that the law – already considered one of the strictest worldwide – is unconstitutional because it impermissibly favors the interests of sport shooters over of the fundamental right to life, as reported here. According to the petitioners, deadly weapons must be prohibited for use in shooting sports.