German pensioner given hefty fine for WW2 tank in house

[hunter]

A pensioner in Germany has been convicted of illegal weapons possession after he was found to own an extensive personal arsenal including a tank.

The defendant, 84, has been handed a suspended prison sentence of 14 months and has been ordered to pay a fine of €250,000 (£213,469).

Officials found the tank and other World War Two-era military equipment at the defendant's house in the northern town of Heikendorf in 2015.

The army had to help remove the items.

--more--

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58077039

Would owning a tank be protected by our second amendment?

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Some would argue that. It is actually legal to own tanks in the US if they are decommissioned and...

all weaponry is removed or inoperative.

My question is how he got the thing into his house? Tanks are BIG.

[SheltieLover]

12. I wonder how he got it inside as well

[BluesRunTheGame]

16. Perhaps he lives in a traditional Low Saxon Barn/House

The Low German house[1] or Fachhallenhaus is a type of timber-framed farmhouse found in Northern Germany and the easternmost Netherlands, which combines living quarters, byre and barn under one roof.[2][need quotation to verify] It is built as a large hall with bays on the sides for livestock and storage and with the living accommodation at one end.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_German_house

[SheltieLover]

18. Maybe so!

Interesting. Ty for sharing.

[Dr. Strange]

17. Same way Radar O'Reilly mailed a jeep home from Korea.

Piece by piece.

Or maybe not. Maybe they just parked the tank and built a house around it.

[greenjar_01]

2. Note to self

Get tank out of basement.

Also, fix the garage gutter.

[Rollo]

3. I think the 2nd applies only to weapons you can carry, or "bear"...

Not sure, but it would seem that things like tanks, anti-aircraft guns, battleships, etc, would be outside the protection of the 2nd amendment. Unless they'd been defanged first.

I'm guessing this German senior probably had those items for years, and it wasn't until he needed someone to help provide care in his home that he got ratted out for having these big ones. Probably he should donate them to a war museum somewhere and get some credit for that.

[wyn borkins]

4. The Defendant's 84 Years Old

I agree with the suspended sentence; however, I would not have fined him either, if he would simply explain how and why he managed to store all that gear for so very long...

[OnDoutside]

6. I think one of the previous articles suggested that he can sell the tank

for millions, so the 250k might not be as bad as it looks.

[brush]

8. He may be able to sell it but it won't bring that as it's...

not in the greatest shape and is without treads.

[OnDoutside]

13. The article I saw suggested that it's in good shape for its age, and there are so few of them

coming up on the open market, so that contributes to the price. It also suggested that an American buyer was in negotiations.

[Aristus]

19. It's a Panther tank in excellent condition and suitable for restoration to running condition.

An extreme rarity these days. So few German tanks survived the war they lost, and even fewer were left after scores of them were scrapped or used as firing range targets.

After decades of groaning at the poor replicas of "German" tanks in World War II movies, tank enthusiasts finally got around to getting the few tanks left in running order. They are huge draws at tank fests, tank museums, and for private collectors who want more than simply a static lawn ornament.

This renewed interest has driven the prices of German tanks in restorable condition, along with the market for spare parts, through the roof. This guy could make bank with his tank...

[brush]

20. I saw a photo of it. It didn't look in that great a condition.

And the treads are missing. Maybe he had them somewhere else.

[Aristus]

21. Compared to some of the rusting old hulks out there, it's in excellent condition.

At least it was protected from the elements.

And there's a huge market out there for replacement Panther tank track.

[NutmegYankee]

5. Americans can own a tank.

We can also own cannons.

[krispos42]

7. They would have to be registered under the National Firearms Act of 1934

I believe the cannon and each round of ammo would be registered a "destructive device", and the machine guns would need to be registered as "machine guns".

Reagan closed the machine-gun registry in 1986, so I guess they would have to be either demilitarized or converted to semi-automatic.

The vehicle itself would be a non-street-legal motor vehicle and whatever state it would be in, it would have to be in compliance with the laws of that state.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

9. Probably not protected by the 2nd amendment

But it's legal to own tanks in most, if not all, of the US. The guns themselves would have to be deactivated or removed or otherwise registered.
Same goes for artillery and cannons. Can be owned legally.
Fighter jets and ships too. There are older US fighter aircraft owned by private pilots. Some newer Russian models are owned as well. No weapons, but they can still fly supersonic, though the legally doing so is heavily restricted. And I believe there are a couple WW2 or slightly newer destroyers or something similar sized owned by civilians as well. Pretty sure none of the guns are functional so they are basically just a giant armored ship.

[Kaleva]

10. It's legal to own a functional tank in the US.

Go to the 5 minute mark to watch a privately owned tank shoot a pickup truck.

[bearsfootball516]

15. That should buff out!

[whistler162]

11. Tank the movie

starring James Garner

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_(film)

used to be quite a few on display at American Legion Posts and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

[Mopar151]

14. The machine guns can go Class 3 permit

The howitzers? Not so much.....