The shooting in Hamburg has reignited the debate about stricter gun laws. A day after the crime that left eight people dead and several injured at Jehovah’s Witness buildings, Federal Secretary of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) announced that she would again review the draft amendment to the gun law. You now have to think “how can we go back to the draft law with this recent terrible shooting in Hamburg to see: are there still gaps, or where was it just right?” Faeser told the ARD “Tagesthemen” on Friday evening.
Even if the subject is not yet on the agenda of the Bundestag’s Home Committee, it should continue to generate discussion. Recently, Faeser had turned the hunters’ and shooters’ associations against her with her plans for more controls and regulations. These in turn received support from the FDP. She says that the changes to the gun law planned by Faeser are not included in the coalition agreement.
‘Better equipment for the arms authorities’
“People with mental illness should not own firearms. It is right and proper that the gun law regulates this unequivocally today,” deputy chairman of the FDP parliamentary group Konstantin Kuhle told the German news agency on Saturday. In the aftermath of the terrible act in Hamburg, it must now become clear why the firearms authority has decided not to withdraw the firearms licence.
“We also need to talk about better equipment for the gun authorities,” Kuhle said. Without a careful analysis of the background “hasty demands for legal consequences are not appropriate”.
The interior expert of the Greens party, Marcel Emmerich, told NDR Info that a ban on semi-automatic pistols for private individuals should also be considered. “This horrible act has shown that legal gun owners can do bad things with gun violence in this society,” Emmerich said, emphasizing, “Fewer guns in private hands means more public safety.”
Seven people were killed in the act on Thursday in Hamburg and the perpetrator himself. Eight other people were injured, four of whom were life-threatening. According to the police, there was initially no new information on the condition of the injured or the crime on Saturday morning.
Philipp F., 35, had shot more than 100 times with a semi-automatic pistol. Police President Ralf Martin Meyer said at a press conference that he had been legally in possession of this weapon since December 12. According to information from security circles, the shooter was not known as an extremist.
The perpetrator was a sniper
Many questions now arise: Should the government have reacted (earlier)? Did the perpetrator get his gun too easily or were anonymous tips that the man was mentally disturbed not taken seriously? Would it have caught the attention of a psychiatrist or psychologist?
Philipp F. was a sniper, had a gun license and had only recently been visited by the gun authority. In January, the authorities received an anonymous tip about a possible mental illness of Philipp F. He was visited unannounced in early February by two officials of the Weapons Authority.
At that time there were no relevant complaints, the legal options had been exhausted, Meyer said. The overall circumstances would not have given officials any indications “that could indicate mental illness”.
Motive still unknown
The exact motive of Philipp F. remains a mystery. The anonymous whistleblower drew the attention of the gun authority to his “particular anger at religious adherents, especially Jehovah’s Witnesses,” as Meyer announced Friday.
Philipp F. revealed a lot about himself and his world of ideas on the internet. The perpetrator’s website shows, for example, that he dealt intensively with God and Jesus Christ and spread crude statements.
The terrible act in Hamburg shows how necessary changes in the gun law are, Faeser said on ARD and called for “above all, better networks between the authorities”. This is important, for example, if you change your place of residence. The shooter is from Memmingen in Bavaria. It has been registered in Hamburg since 2015. (sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
