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
Gun laws in the Czech Republic guns illegally in 1200 km distant Belgium, despite living mere 70 km from the Czech border. Also, the fact that Czech Republic has a strong tradition in firearms manufacturing and competition shooting contributes to generally moderate attitude to gun control. Obligatory psychological testing for gun owners is a common subject of discussion, but it has always been rejected. Gun advocates point out that the nature of the tests and the parties responsible for them are not clear. It is also pointed out that it is unlikely that any psychological testing would reveal a potentially dangerous individual, because some famous killers