Germany’s gun control laws are some of the most restrictive in Europe. Unfortunately, not all armed criminals and nutcases who live here appear to have been properly informed.
Some idiot just killed three people and injured three more near Aachen, before shooting himself into a coma.
Shootings like this happen quite regulary in this country. Nobody likes to address the issue, other than to suggest introducing even stricter gun control laws, but it happens here quite regularly all the same.
Discussing shootings that take place in US-Amerika, on the other hand, is a downright popular obsession here. This is because Germans feel that Americans need more gun control legislation like the Germans have here in Germany, get it? Me neither.
Der Hintergrund des Amoklaufes ist noch unklar. Man könne nur spekulieren, sagt der Oberstaatsanwalt.
Observing Hermann 
Fact: The United States has the highest gun ownership rate in the world and the highest per capita rate of firearm-related murders of all developed countries. Source: The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/gun-homicides-ownership/table/
How very linear. Crime involving a gun in the US has dropped by nearly half in the past two decades, while rather inscrutably, the ownership of guns has doubled. The issue is cultural, not one of adolescent repetitive pointing-and-sneering using the same stale phrases for 3 decades.
By the way, which nation do you think does the best job of exporting guns to Americans?
I recommend startng here: http://www.iowastatedaily.com/opinion/article_1c144792-b36d-11e2-8ac6-001a4bcf887a.html
Uncanny, usually they use shoelaces:
http://www.bild.de/news/inland/mord/exbuergermeister-scholl-wegen-mordes-verurteilt-30305000.bild.html
I’ve always felt that there should be stricter shoelace control legislation (thanks for both of those links). Or, while we’re at it – I’m thinking about the Boston bombings now – we need to consider introducing stricter pressure cooker laws. My point should be clear here: If you’re a criminal or a nutcase (and criminals and nutcases are usually the perpetrators here), you can have all the laws you want. It’s absurd to think you can stop them in this way. It’s a folly.
Guards at the local state prison don´t need guns. They are useless according to the red/green government. Folly or austerity measure? Will they also forbid wearing shoes with shoelaces?
http://www.rheinpfalz.de/cgi-bin/cms2/cms.pl?cmd=showMsg&tpl=rhpMsg_thickbox.html&path=/regioline/rheinlandpfalzsaarland/&id=urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-130508-99-05466
Good for them. They live in a cultural near-monolith. The rest of humanity magically takes care of itself just enough to keep buying their exports, so, y’know, that must be normal…
Most Europeans pick and choose the subjects they have to brook with others (actual with their imagined notions of those cultures) out beyond the edge of the dorf, not for the sake of decency or the benefit of anyone else, but to make themselves feel good.
Otherwise, they’re useless. They don’t even do any significant amount to medical or engineering research compared to the degree of their wealth.
Ian, I am skeptical about the Wasington Post article. The key word is “homocides.” Germany does not have such a broad category. It is either murder (Mord) or manslaughter (Totschlag). A year ago, a distant relative of mine decided to blow away his Hartz IV renter with his hunting shotgun because the local court said he should not pay rent because he was unemployed. The Polizei categorized the “homocide” as manslaughter. I am sure there are many manslaughter “homocides” left out of the German statistics.