German Reserves Idea Being Discussed

For a number of months, there's been continual talk within the Berlin leadership and the Bundestag....about allowing German soldiers to be called in, if necessary, for civil emergencies.  The French allow for such action.....so does Belgium.

So far, the opposition parties have been totally against the idea (SPD, Linke Party, Greens).....so this never goes anywhere.

So, it's been mentioned over the weekend now of a new idea, which will be pushed.  A national reserve force.

The general idea (it's pretty weak, I will admit)....is that you would create a reserve force that would involve people who've had military or police training.  They would like for it to work like the French military or US reserves model.  It would only involve volunteers.....no one would be forced into it.

Would they be armed?  No one has said anything about that, but you would assume that some firearms might be necessary if they were to serve and protect the public.  This will disturb the opposition parties.

How many would sign up?  That's another unknown in this mix.  If you created tax credit gimmick and said that for every hour of duty, you'd get 10 Euro of tax credit off your taxes.....I would take a guess that 40,000 qualified Germans would quickly ask about requirements and enter.  The truth is....you might only use such an individual four hours a month.  Since most Germans are paying a hefty amount in taxes....a credit would put some of this back into their pocket and serve as "pay" (while being untaxable).  

In Munich from last weekend, they could have activated 100 such reserve members and helped to calm the public and quickly move people out of the danger zone.

Selling it to the opposition?  Someone could hint that it looks like the Brown-shirt goons of the 1930s.  The problem though is that the general public doesn't feel safe.  This would put more people on the street....in some possible uniform, and helping to reassure the public.

Oddly, the French have one rule with their reserve police members....where they can carry a weapon, and some people think this might be a way in the future to expand the reserve police, and give a fair segment of the public a chance to license and carry a weapon.  The same thought might be behind this reserve force in Germany.

My humble opinion is that nationally.....this idea won't go anywhere due to opposition.  But in Bavaria, they might quickly vote up the idea, and pass a Bavarian reserve police force, and it might be active within six months.