Saturday, November 2, 2013

Gun Control in Germany

OPB

Gunther Eggersdorf goes hunting nearly every day outside his village in Bavaria. He takes me down to the basement room where he keeps his guns.

“Here are the weapons,” says Eggersdorf. “Must be in the dresser. I have only the key. So I can only open this.” He unlocks a tall, black safe that’s as tall as him and shows his eight firearms.

Like all gun owners in Germany, he’s required to store his weapons in a locked safe.


And if gun owners don’t have firearms stowed away, the consequences are serious. Law enforcers go door to door and randomly check on gun owners. If officials find that a gun owner doesn’t have their weapons in a safe, they could lose their guns, be fined, or go to jail. The father of the 17-year-old gunman in Winnenden was tried and sentenced for leaving his pistol in his bedroom, where his son could access it.

Still, there are more than five point four million legal firearms in this country, or about 30 guns for every 100 people. That’s the fourth highest per capita rate in the world, behind the U.S., Switzerland, and Finland.


In Germany, you have to have a good reason for owning a gun, like if you’re a sport shooter, hunter or in rare cases, a gun collector. You can’t buy a firearm simply for personal protection—self-defense doesn’t count as a necessity here. The yearlong licensing process involves written tests and shooting practice, and costs several thousand Euros. Every applicant is background checked. And starting this year, every gun owner is tracked on a national register.

According to a 2009 poll by German public television, most Germans support strict gun regulation. But even with the policies currently in place, gun deaths and gun crimes still happen. Each year, about 200 people are killed by guns.

22 comments:

  1. This makes me grateful that I live in America. Random checks? Mikeb, do you support that?

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    1. Asked and answered, Greg. It's funny you have such a good memory when you want to.

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    2. Actually, I've seen you support such checks, but I was giving you a chance to reject them here.

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    3. You've seen me support random police checks on private homes?

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    4. Yes, I have, and no, I don't have time to go hunt for the statements.

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    5. Since when don't you have time to research the blog to prove you're right? That's a new one. I suspect it's because you made a lying, impulsive statement and you know damn well you can't back it up. Typical.

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  2. The only way to police that kind of law, is home inspections. Just like policing building codes, a government agent must do on site inspections.

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    1. The answer is no. Next right you'd like to discuss violating?

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    2. Not really. The failure to do safe storage can be severely punished in each case when a lost or stolen gun is used in a crime. Resistant gun owners will gradually get the idea.

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    3. Again, no. Notice how America isn't willing to do what you demand?

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    4. Debate the law if you want, but it is the law and authorities have the responsibility to enforce it. Their law gives them the right to go into homes and inspect.

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    5. Maybe in Germany, but not here. Though some drugs are illegal, the police do not have the right to inspect homes for drugs.

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  3. AnonymousNovember 2, 2013 at 6:43 PM

    The only way to police that kind of law, is home inspections. Just like policing building codes, a government agent must do on site inspections.


    Right after you're Anonymous dumbass, first stop, Ingleside, Chicago, right after a hood-rat drug-fueled revenge shooting, you get to search without warrant every single house in the neighborhood......

    Good luck with that.

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    1. Hey dumb ass (two words) the article was talking about Germany, not America. In Germany they have that law and it is legal and in fact an obligation to enforce those laws.

      Repeat my above comment for those who cannot read:

      Debate the law if you want, but it is the law and authorities have the responsibility to enforce it. Their law gives them the right to go into homes and inspect.

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    2. When the law is unjust, it is no law at all. Home invasions are a violation of privacy, and yes, I call these actions invasions, "legal" or not.

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    3. You refuse to abide by the law. Thanks for that clarification. I'll remember.

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    4. Ooooh, you'll remember. Your point?

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    5. You can't pick and choose the laws you will obey. It makes you a criminal. Like any American you can avail yourself of the proper process of changing a law.

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    6. So every law is just and must be obeyed? I take it that you've sworn your allegiance to the Queen of Great Britain, then?

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    7. Not at all. As I stated there is a process set forth by the founders on how to change laws. It does not include the option of simply ignoring, or breaking the law. I'll remember that you support ignoring and breaking the law.

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  4. Hey anon "dumbass"

    http://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/dumbass

    I don't live in Germany, and don't a shit about the law in germany, you want that here try getting it past constitutional muster.... Get that dumbass law passed here, it is not gonna happen, so you keep pulling your pud dumbass.

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    Replies
    1. Then the dumb ass is the one who disregards what the post was about, or cannot read.

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