A populist German politician is saying that German citizens should have the right to weapons to protect themselves. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is a political party that’s achieved some recent electoral successes. It rejects subservience of Germany to the European Union, and rejects the recent mass immigration. From reuters.com:
“Many people are increasingly feeling unsafe. Every law-abiding citizen should be in a position to defend themselves, their family and their friends,” Frauke Petry told the Funke Media Group in an interview published on Saturday.
“We all know how long it takes until the police can get to the scene, especially in sparsely populated places,” she said.
The excuse for civilian disarmament commonly deployed in European countries: severe restrictions on guns are necessary to reduce crime. In fact, over the last hundred years, violent crime (as measured by the homicide rate) has always been low, both before and after Europe’s stringent gun control laws were initiated, mostly between the two World Wars.
Claiming that gun control reduces crime is pure propaganda, designed to justify disarming the general population to maintain state control. For example, as the influx of Islamic immigrants has surged, German police have actually cracked down on gun permits.
The number of Germans applying for so-called “small firearms license”, which are required to carry around blank guns and pepper spray, jumped 49 percent in the first half of 2016 to 402,301, according to federal statistics.
However, permits for firearms fell to 1.894 million as of the end of June compared to 1.898 million a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the United States continues to serve as an example of firearms freedom to other countries. Brazil has been considering loosening its highly restrictive gun laws, as has Kenya.
Panama’s also making its laws less restrictive. If you have a permit to own a gun in Panama, you may carry it concealed. In considering a change in Panamanian policy, the United States and Switzerland were mentioned as positive examples. The Czech Republic used the United States as an example as they instituted one of the least restrictive run laws in Europe.
Will Germans be allowed to own, and even carry firearms for their own protection? It seems increasingly likely. A few more well-publicized attacks, as ISIS has called for, could accelerate the process.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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