Armed and 'Dangerous'?

German politicians getting armed?  Well....here's the basic story.  It's told by ARD (public TV, Channel One).

About half-a-year ago, some right-wing enthusiast got himself hyped up enough....to go out and murder a CDU political figure in Kassel (major city up in northern Hessen).  This goes back to four years ago when this political figure made a comment on migrants arriving in Germany, and acceptance was going to be a mandatory thing....and if you didn't like the idea, you (as the German) could leave the homeland. 

I know....maybe this could have been said in a softer way, or as people do in the US.....'walked-back'....but nothing much happened, and in the end....this young guy reacted in a negative way, and ends up shooting the politician.

So the mayor of Kamp Linfort (a city up in NRW, northwest Germany, of 40,000 residents) got himself into the news, by applying for a gun license, which is a special type....allowing him to carry a pistol on his person.  He does this....because he feels threatened by right-wing elements. 

This topic has picked up steam and there's this suggestion going on that maybe all politicians ought to have this 'capability'.

The special license?  Usually, it's for body-guards.  The average German would typically be turned down for a license that people in the US would routinely get, without much hassle.

Where this discussion is going?  My humble guess is that the Bundestag will pick up the topic either this year or next, and talk about letting politicians easily get the public license and tote pistols on themselves. 

The odds of a vast number doing this?  Pretty much zero. 

But the flip side of this is that various political figures now get 'threat' emails on a daily basis, and there's just not going to be enough police to go and provide body-guard services across the entire nation.  You'd have to hire up a minimum of  a million body-guards.....if you felt that was the 'best' answer to the problem.

Then you have to contend with the obvious problems....like some CDU political figure accidentally shooting some Linke Party official while demonstrating their new Walther PPK pistol.  Or you'd have a drunk SPD guy loose his pistol in some bar toilet. 

Simply talking over the ways to lessen the right-wing topics?  Oh....you could try that, but you'd just get the left-wing folks all fussy and hyped-up....causing them to make threats or create hate-speech in response to your charm actions. 

So settle back and watch this topic develop....as German politicians see self defense as the only path ahead.