This morning, via ZDF (public German TV, Channel Two)....the topic of gun laws in Germany came up.
The Bundestag is reviewing a draft law, which probably will pass (via the CDU-CSU-SPD coalition).
The contents? There are three chief items in the draft:
1. For certain firearms, the size of the clip or magazine will detailed out. The present law? Sports weapons are mandated to have magazines that are a max of ten rounds. The new size? It's not openly discussed, but I would imagine it's in the range of six to seven rounds.
2. A national database would be created to trace all firearms in the country. Presently....it's a community or state control system. You'd go down to the local police station to detail your purchase of x-weapon, and they'd add it to their data card or spreadsheet. The police in your region and state....know precisely how many weapons exist and who controls them (via their licensing method). That data existing at the national level (presently)? No.
3. Finally, if you manufacture weapons or deal in weapons....you'd have to go and report where each weapon went, and it's present 'location' or 'owner'. Under this idea, if you manufactured 3,000 shotguns this year, you'd detail out the 300-odd gun-dealers who received the weapons. The gun-dealers, as they traded or sold the 3,000 shotguns, would add to this database.
Problems with these improvements? Lets be honest about the clip or magazine requirement....you could easily cross the border and buy an entire box of a dozen 15-round magazines in Czech, and drive across the border with them.
In the case of the national database, it becomes a data-mining tool for whatever political party has in some agenda. If they think too many hunting rifles exist....they can document the precise number and just say those will go away via some government program. You can add to the database problem.....criminals and terrorists don't register their weapons.
The necessity driving the draft law? Gun violations simply continue. Oddly enough, if you follow the news items and police blotter comments.....the majority are weapons which aren't registered, and picked up via guys who aren't licensed. So that trend will simply continue on, and this draft law has almost zero effect.
Finally, you come to the manufacturing reports. What the government will be able to do....within a year or two...is establish how many weapons are sold in Germany, through the EU countries (legit sales) and the number which go to beyond the EU border. In simple terms, you start to establish behaviors which you might (say in five years) make another law which says sales beyond the German or EU border is forbidden (like hunting rifle sales into Canada or the US).
I wholeheartedly agree, there is a point where some basic gun laws have an effect. Beyond that point, the effect....is useless and without much gained.
Update: Saturday. There were two other pieces in this draft that have been noted by ARD today. One....that hunters (with a license) will be able to more easily buy a silencer for their rifles. Second....night-vision goggles used to be fairly difficult to purchase, have regulations added that will lessen the 'hassle' (if you are a licensed hunter). So you will probably start to see more hunters spending a significant sum of money to acquire the night-vision capability.
Added as well....some wording which will create 'safe-zones' (deemed to cover 'busy areas', schools and university campus areas), where absolutely no knives will be accepted. A present problem? On school grounds and university areas? No. But if you made 'busy areas' into train station area, or shopping district....this might be a recent trend that that the police have seen problems.
I'll note here that Wiesbaden went out on it's own, and made a regulation about an entire district of central town (shopping district) and it became a 'safe-zone', where the fine for carrying a knife is significant and potentially two months of a normal salary.
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