Austria's gun ownership at record high: more and more citizens armed!

Austria's gun ownership at record high: more and more citizens armed!

The number of registered firearms in Austria has reached a new high: in mid -2025 there are already 374,141 people with a weapon, which is a sudden increase compared to 2015 when it was still 253,445. Compared to the previous year, an increase of almost 24,000 people is shown, which corresponds to around 6.8 %, as [VOL.AT reports] (https://www.vol.at/jeder-23-oesterreicher-besitzt-eine-Waffe- Neue-Nahne-Nache-fahlt-veroffent/9468767).

A closer look at the different federal states shows that in Lower Austria most of the gun owners can be found with 97,513. Upper Austria follows with 65,911, while 61,399 people have registered a weapon in Styria. Vienna surprisingly only has 40,464 gun owners, despite the high population. In contrast, Vorarlberg is the state with the least registered weapons: only 11,895. It is interesting that Vorarlberg also has a slight increase in gun ownership, especially for sports shooters and hunters, which indicates that the country is traditionally not considered a weapon stronghold, as is the case elsewhere.

The gun landscape in Austria

A total of over 1.5 million firearms, including revolvers, pistols and rifles, are registered in Austria, whereby more than 212,000 weapons can be found in Styria alone. There are more than 100,000 in Carinthia. Last but not least, the changes in the weapons possession could be related to the amendment of the weapons law, which until 2019 did not require the late registration of non-registration-related shotguns, so [the Kleine Zeitung] (https://www.kleinezeitung.at/oesterreich/19691813/immer-Mewaff owner- Ruestet-oesterreichs-bevoelkung--

Hans Wertgarner, the state guild master of arms trade in Upper Austria, emphasizes that Austria is traditionally a country with many weapons and the majority of the gun owners are responsible. A change in the customer profile in weapon shops is also recorded: the majority are young hunters, followed by sports shooters, with the proportion of women here at 30-40 %. As exceptional as it may sound, people who choose self -defense are comparatively rare. Apart from the weapon for sport, the purchase of pepper spray is an often recommended alternative for personal security.

social aspects and security

In the debate about gun ownership, the increase in violent offenses in connection with legal firearms is also discussed. The Greens warn that the proportion of women who were killed with legal firearms has increased. In 2022 there were four and 2023 five women's murders. Therefore, they call for regular reliability checks for gun owners every five years. Wertgarner, on the other hand, sees no connection to an increase in violence with legal firearms and indicates that almost all gun owners act responsibly.

A psychological report and a well -founded introduction to security of weapons are imperative for the purchase of a gun ownership card. Long weapons (category C) can be bought without a suitability certificate, but hunters have to take an extensive hunting exam. Weapons legislation in Austria is one of the more liberal in Europe, which is of particular importance for both supporters and critics, such as Statista.com. In summary, it turns out that the gun ownership in Austria is still very popular and with the current figures of over 374,000 registered gun owners, society has adapted to a growing topic. It remains to be seen how the discourse on security and responsible use of firearms will develop. Reports such as that of [Vol.at] (https://www.vol.at/jeder-23-oesterreicher-besitzt-eine-Waffe-Neue-Nahne-Nache-Nache- Number-Number- Number, the public discussion on this topic will surely boost.