Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Explaining the Wiesbaden Weapons-Free Zone

Wiesbaden here earlier in the spring, became the first German city with a law on the books to ban just about anything viewed as a weapon on city streets.  But there is a bit of detail to the law.

First, the current zone is the shopping district (mid-town area).  The law is written in a way that you could easily add the train station, bus-stops, major events or fests, or even shopping centers within the city limits.  So far, nothing has been added....but if you had one single event or arrest to show the need....then they'd assemble the council....vote it up, and it'd be fully functional.

Time?  Well....from 9 PM to 5 AM.  Just about every single statisic collected....showed that it was after dark when these knife incidents occurred.

The banning choices?  Kives, hammers, sharped-edged items, screwdrivers, clubs, baseball bats, sticks, axes, hatches, and gloves with a steel-filling. 

The hefty fine?  That's the interesting thing about this.  They intend to take your money in a major way.  If you claim to be 'worthless'.....they will send the guy over to view your apartment and find items to confiscate of value (like your TV or video game set). 

Needing something like this a decade or two ago?  No.  That's the curious part of the story.  All of this knife and bad-boy behavior business started up in the past five years....as migration took root, and young men started to meet in the after-hours....drink and indulge in drugs. 

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