Weapons — Austria
What travelers need to know about weapons in Austria. What is legal at home can be a serious crime here — each rule links to its official source.
Weapons in Austria: restricted — there are real limits travelers must follow.
Pepper spray is legal in Austria for adults but it counts as a WEAPON: under-18s may not possess or carry it, and you may only use it in genuine self-defence. Disguised blades - credit-card knives, pen or lipstick knives - are banned outright. Vienna and other cities can also declare weapon-prohibition zones where police may search you.
Possession or carrying of pepper spray by a person under 18 is prohibited. Deploying pepper spray outside a genuine self-defence situation, or exceeding the necessary degree of defence, can be a criminal offence under the Strafgesetzbuch. Dealing in the s.17(1) prohibited categories - including disguised blades - is punishable under WaffG s.50(1) no.2. Inside a declared weapon-prohibition zone under Sicherheitspolizeigesetz s.36b, police may search clothing, vehicles and containers and seize prohibited items.
§ oesterreich.gv.at (the official Austrian government portal), page "Pfefferspray", content responsibility Bundesministerium fuer Inneres (Federal Ministry of the Interior), last updated 02.02.2026, citing Waffengesetz s.1 and Strafgesetzbuch s.3. Waffengesetz 1996 ss.11(1), 17(1) and 50(1) and Sicherheitspolizeigesetz s.36b read this run on the Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS), Bundeskanzleramt.Verified Sep 6, 2026