Thursday, March 12, 2009

The Efficiency Of German Gun Control- Can Brady Get It Here?

Some of the strictest gun control laws are in Germany There is a move to further attempt to crack down on private gun ownership there. This could be hard to do because of the long hunting tradition in the more conservative southern part of the country. Other countries are tightening laws to prevent people from killing each other, but there aren't enough yet to stop the insane primal urge to kill.

Strict gun laws began after WWII, when the police couldn't even carry guns. There are a few ways today to get a permit to own guns in Germany. Just see how easy gun ownership is.

a. Get a carry license. You just have to prove that you are in more danger than other average Germans and that a gun is needed for self defense. 20,000 carry permits exist in all of Germany. Security services have most of these Waffenschein grey cards.

b. You might try to become a collector and get a Sammlerkarte red card. There are hard to get collector permits for guns that are of cultural history subject value. You might apply for one that's for collecting examples of handguns of the police forces of the country. Another category is collecting German Service Rifles. Good luck on getting a permit for a semiautomatic AR15 or AK47, or any other evil looking black rifle.

c. You may want to try hunting. This takes about a year and costs several thousand Euros.

d. There's sport shooting too. This is the easiest way.
You have to prove that you have a clean background. Foreigners are eligible too.
You must show theoretical and practical knowledge about guns and gun laws. There's also a test.
You must have been successfully and regularly practicing in the prior twelve months by the rules of an approved shooting sports association and shoot twice a month before applying for a license.
There's a yellow card sports shooters license for black powder revolvers, rifles that aren't semi automatic, single shot shotguns, over and unders, and single shot pistols.
There's a green card for all other firearms, including semiautomatic pistols, semiautomatic rifles and shotguns, and pump action guns.
You have to prove a need for the gun. If you want a license for anything on the green card, you must prove a need for every gun covered by it.

And, of course all guns must be kept unloaded in a locked locker that is permanently attached to a wall to prevent removal. Ammunition is stored separately the same way.
But that didn't stop German mass murderer Tim Kretschmer from getting one of his father's guns and going berserk this week.

Sure, there are always ways to get around gun laws. There are up to 20,000 unregistered guns already in Germany now. Germans can go into neighboring Poland and pick from a veritable smorgasbord of post Soviet Union fully automatic rifles. Someone is always willing to make a buck on an underground Kalashnikov or something more potent there.

Here in the USA, there is a criminal black market for stolen guns that can't be stopped by any laws. For example, possession of a stolen firearm in Michigan is punishable by 10 years in prison. But, the only way a person goes to prison in that state is to be a repeat offender with a very, very long record. Otherwise, unless its a judge who is tough on gun crime, and there are some, who might send the person to prison or county jail, arguments are successfully made by defense lawyers everyday for probation. Repeat gun law violators may call their being caught with a stolen gun, "catching a case," and deal with any penalties simply as a cost of doing their criminal business.

Unfortunately, with every tightening of gun laws, there is a corresponding opposite of loosening of criminals not obeying them. What's another law to a lawbreaker who doesn't care if a law is broken? Groups like the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, The Freedom States Alliance, The Legal Community Against Violence, and The Violence Policy Center continue so far to advocate disarming the entire public, and leaving us vulnerable to armed thugs, who will not disarm as a result of any law they advocate passing. These armed thugs will continue to threaten, intimidate, rape, rob, and kill. Let's continue to make their's and the anti gun groups efforts futile.

1 comment:

osmorphyus said...

may germany rise again, to his ancient and loved integrity. brotherhood. loyalty. for all.