German Gun Control

[sfc_darrel]

Excerpts from "Bundestag passes tighter law while gunman strikes"

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-280168,00.html
AS A 19-year-old lone gunman carried out the worst school shooting in Europe since the Dunblane massacre in 1996, the German parliament approved a new Bill tightening the country's already strict gun laws.

In the wake of recent incidents, Germany's politicians wanted stricter rules for owning guns, securing them and giving more legitimate reasons for wanting to own one.

Shooting clubs usually require members to have been registered for two years before they can apply for a police permit and to be over the age of 21. A 19-year-old would not be allowed to own either a handgun or a pump-action shotgun. Yet Germany's conscription system means that many of such an age are trained to use firearms.

In previous shootings at schools in Germany, the weapons were mostly the property of hunting fathers, who kept their weapons at home in secure cabinets that require a police inspection at least once a year. To qualify for a hunting permit, you have to be a farmer or a member of a registered shooting club.

"According to police statistics, only 0.004 per cent of armed crimes are committed with a legally obtained firearm," said Joachim Streitberger, head of the Weapons Rights Forum, a group representing legal weapons owners.

Police estimate that 95 per cent of the ten million legally registered weapons are held in gun clubs or by farmers.

The Bundestag voted on the new measure just after the deadly shooting spree took place in Erfurt, but the crime did not figure in the debate as the news had barely emerged.

Under the law passed by the Lower House, owners of airguns, which still shoot potentially deadly small pellets, must now carry a licence.
(that's 4 in every 100,000)