Interesting announcement today by the Federal Interior Minister (Nancy Faeser, SPD Party). She intends to have a federal mandate (law) that has weapons-ban zones in particular areas (hasn't defined them yet) and a ban of knives on trains.
Lot of reactions....most people say it's impossible to mandate.
My reaction? Well....we've had such a ban in Wiesbaden for about four years....for a particular area of town (the street leading from the train-station to the shopping district itself....to include the whole shopping district)....for evening hours.
It works in a simple fashion.....a two-man police patrol encounters you around 11 PM and asks in a nice way to frisk you. You refuse? They go to a unfriendly method of frisking you. Got a knife? They will confiscate the knife....issue you a summons, and there's a hefty (more than a thousand Euro) for the knife issue.
So what Faeser is suggesting....cops would have the frisk option (on the street or on a train) and if you refused....then they could go to the take-down situation. Got a knife? The fine would probably equal two months of your pay, and put you into a serious financial mess.
I could see a serious counter-reaction to this....people complaining about frisking and the fines.
All this knife business....did this always exist? No, that's the funny thing. Through the 1970s to the 1990s....there were always a possibility of an assault, but most Germans never carried a knife around. This knife trend started after 2000, and you'd notice in the news as years went by....an occasional stabbing. Guilty party? Always guys....never women.
This necessary? In small towns and villages? No. I'd say when you start to have towns of 20,000 or more.....you start to notice thug-like behavior going on. The more drug activity....the more of a threat.
The cops wanting this law? I doubt it...it just means frisking more people and having more potential for a threat against the German police.
But the government is at a point....they need to show some kind of reaction.
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