Bavarian prosecutors drop case against Tyrolean riflemen

Prosecutors in Traunstein, Bavaria, have dropped weapons-law investigations into 34 Tyrolean riflemen after each agreed to pay €200, ORF reported. The cases involved firearms taken into Germany without the required documents.

The men, members of three Tyrolean rifle companies, were stopped in June while returning from Salzburg through Bavaria. German officials found that 31 long guns had been carried openly and within reach in the passenger compartment of their bus. Twelve rifles dating from 1937 also bore small proof marks from the Nazi era, including an imperial eagle and a swastika.

All 34 faced allegations of unlawfully bringing firearms into Germany. The 31 men whose weapons were carried openly also faced a less serious charge of unlawfully carrying a firearm. The €200 payments had already been covered by security deposits retained by German authorities during the bus check, bringing the total to €6,800.

The Traunstein prosecutor’s office said it had taken into account that the group was only passing through Germany and did not intend to stop there. A German-Austrian agreement dating from 2004 eases documentation requirements for cross-border participation in shooting events, but does not remove safety rules for transporting weapons.

Prosecutors found no separate criminal offence relating to the swastikas, saying the marks had not been used publicly and were barely visible even from a relatively short distance. The seized rifles are expected to be returned soon. The men belonged to rifle companies from Waidring, Fieberbrunn and Pillersee in the Kitzbühel district.