A Bavaria Story

It's a small article by Focus this morning, which kinda displays the political gaming that is taking place on refugees and safety.

The Green Party in Bavaria stood up and requested some key data on small gun permits.  The state apparatus in Berlin reacted and provided the data.

So, in 2014.....2379 new small gun permits were issued.  It more or less doubled in 2015, with 5748 small gun permits being issued.  Naturally, you'd be interested about the first quarter of 2016, and the authorities responded that it also went up....just in Feb alone....7435 permits were issued....with the trend drifting downward in Mar to a mere 4677.

The Greens.....ever fearful....noted that this was worrying.  "Arming and vigilantism" isn't the job of the public.  The police are noted by the Greens as being responsible for the safety of the public.  The Greens then expressed concern that there is danger and conflict....if escalation occurs and more people have guns.....eventually countermeasures will have to occur.

It is a curious point for the Greens to attach themselves to.  You see.....after the Weimar Republic of the 1920s did their ultra-strong anti-gun measures in Germany.....along came the Nazis of the 1930s, who added onto the top of gun control.

What the Greens didn't ask?  That's another part of this story.  They didn't ask for crime statistics (break-in's, robbery, assault, etc).  You'd think.....as part of the overall story, you might want to know the statistics.  My suspicion is that they didn't want that story to be a part of their slant on things.  I can only suspect that crime numbers are up, and if you did dig into the numbers.....there's a reason for people to ask for gun permits.

One other odd aspect of the story is that the Greens didn't want to suggest adding more policemen to the situation, to lessen public perception of a lawless situation.  Normally....suggesting another 300 policemen for the state of Bavaria would have sent a signal that the Greens are for lessening public worry over safety and security.  But they didn't want to suggest that type of repair or solution.

So, after you review the whole story....then you go back to the quantity of Greens in the Bavarian legislature.  They hold 10-percent of the 180 seats.  There's not much they can say or do, with this type of number.  The Free Voters Party (FW, far-right) hold similar numbers (one seat more) than the Greens.  And the CSU is solid in place with 56-percent of the seats.  There's not much that can happen here.....except to get a brief note in the national news over their fake concern.

In the end, public concern over safety and security will dominate the landscape for years to come with the integration, crime, and refugee episode.  Whether journalists or politicians like it or not.....the issue rests more with the general public perception.