Howitzer groups called batteries. The English word ""howitzer"" comes from the Czech word ""houfnice"", from "houf", "crowd", and "houf" is in turn a borrowing from the Middle High German word "Hūfe" or "Houfe" (modern German "Haufen"), meaning "heap". "Haufen", sometimes in the compound "Gewalthaufen", also designated a pike square formation in German. In the Hussite Wars of the 1420s and 1430s, the Czechs used short barreled ""houfnice"" cannons to fire at short distances into crowds of infantry, or into charging heavy cavalry, to make horses shy away. The word was rendered into German as "aufeniz" in the earliest attested use in
Gun laws in the Czech Republic out of some 300,000 legal gun owners have a concealed carry permit. The vast majority of Czech gun owners possess their firearms for protection, with hunting and sport shooting being less common. Firearms ownership has a very long tradition in the country. The English term "pistol" originated in 15th-century Czech language. "Mariánská skála" in Ústí nad Labem is Europe's oldest still open shooting range, established in 1617. The Czech lands have been the manufacturing center (including weapons industry) of Central Europe for over two centuries. Firearms possession was severely restricted during German occupation and the subsequent communist dictatorship, with ownership