Gun laws in the Czech Republic in their war for religious freedom against professional well armed and trained Catholic Crusader invaders. The word used for one type of hand held firearm used by the Hussites, , later found its way through German and French into English as the term pistol. Name of a cannon used by the Hussites, the , gave rise to the English term, "howitzer". Under common law tradition, civilians could possess firearms except artillery and insidious weapons (e.g. firearms that had appearance of other objects, etc.). First gun control laws were enacted during the early 18th century and dealt with illegal use of
Name of the Czech Republic newly independent Czechoslovakia ("Česko-Slovensko" or "Československo") . Within that state, the Czech Socialist Republic ("Česká socialistická republika", "ČSR") was created on 1 January 1969. On 6 March 1990 the Czech Socialist Republic was renamed the Czech Republic ("Česká republika", "ČR"). When Czechoslovakia broke up in 1993, the Czech part of the name was intended to serve as the name of the Czech state. The decision started a dispute as many perceived the "new" word "Česko", which before had been only rarely used alone, as harsh sounding or as a remnant of "Československo". The older term "Čechy" was rejected by many