Germany investigates how to ban knives on public streets in face of social alarm over rise in attacks

2024-08-19 14:43:57

Preventing premeditated attacks, whether they come from common crime or suspected terrorists, is a complex task. But at least those German Minister of the Interior, Social Democrat Nancy Faeserit is proposed to prevent any brawl, fight or tension discussion to lead to the use of a knife by the attacker or the attacker.

“We need to exercise it greater control over weapons that are easily available, but with which you can commit heinous crimesFaeser said, when presenting his project to prevent the carrying of any knife or razor on the public streets of The blade exceeds six centimeters. For conservative opposition, the measure is short, because the possession of all knives in public places should be prohibited.

In 2023, 400,000 knife crimes were recorded in Germany, 16% more than the previous year. More surprising is the increase in physical injuries from knives, blades or other drinks: there were 8,951 injuries, a 20% increase year-over-year.

The initiative of the government Olaf Scholzoccurs in the middle of the social alarm in the face of this evolution. The spectrum is very wide: from attacks with a jihadist base or carried out by disturbed people, minorities or people with behavioral disorders, to robberies, robberies or other crimes related to the crime of it is common. Sectors such as health or the Deutsche Bahn train company warn of an increase in attacks on their professionals, either by patients or their families in situations of tension or panic. In the case of trains, due to poor services. To cry you can proceed to pull out a knife, if you have one in your pocket.

Extremely easy access

Control over weapons is already complex, especially on the black market. Access to edged weapons, whether pocket knives or kitchen knives, is very easy. They can be bought at any time shopping center, iron shop or supermarket.

In areas such as public swimming pools, strict access controls have been in place for two years, including systematic bag searches. Any sharp ingredient is removed, with a knife to cut fruits or prepare snacks. The measure is a response to the frequent disturbances that occur in crowded swimming pools in the summer and which lead to face-to-face battles. Even so, there is no free ending in which conflict does not occur, with the police intervening when they realize that the security personnel are tired.

The plan to ban wearing them in public has a political aspect as well. The far right Alternative for Germany (AfD)the second power from the last European elections, emphasized that most of the attacks or crimes with knives come from the population with foreign roots or irregular immigrants. In their statements, the police often ignore the background of the people involved in these situations in order to avoid a disgrace for the purpose of origin. In some ‘Länder’, such as the populous North Rhine-Westphalia, however, they choose to describe whether or not they come from German native. Police statistics show that between a third and a half of all knife crimes are committed by people of non-German origin. One in four citizens of the country has such foreign roots.

The death of a 29-year-old police officer in Mannheim, the victim of an attack by a 25-year-old Afghan man against a far-right rally at the end of last May, is fertilizer for AfD arguments. The same happened with recent terrorist attacks carried out by refugees or irregular migrants who cannot leave the country for humanitarian or governmental reasons.

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