Tuesday, August 23, 2016

GUN WATCH: German Populist Party Favors Armed Citizens

http://i.imgur.com/3MLAc9w.jpg

The Overton Window of what is considered permissible and reasonable is shifting in Germany. It is happening because the German people have come to understand that their government will not protect them from migrant crime and terrorism. The German government has little interest in suppressing migrant crime and terrorism. Merkel says that the migrants are not responsible for the crime and violence happening in Germany.  She is telling Germans to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.  Germans are being betrayed and abandoned by their leaders, so they want guns to protect themselves with now.

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image from theguardian.com 

A populist German politician is saying that German citizens should have the right to weapons to protect themselves. TheAlternative for Germany (AfD) is a political party that has achieved some recent electoral successes.  It rejects subservience of Germany to the European Union, and rejects the recent mass immigration.   From reuters.com:
"Many people are increasingly feeling unsafe. Every law-abiding citizen should be in a position to defend themselves, their family and their friends," Frauke Petry told the Funke Media Group in an interview publishedon Saturday.

"We all know how long it takes until the police can get to the scene, especially in sparsely populated places," she said.
The excuse that has been common in European countries is that severe restrictions on guns has been necessary to reduce crime.  In fact, over the last hundred years, violent crime, as measured by the homicide rate, has always been low, both before and after gun control was initiated, mostly between the two world wars.  Claiming that restriction on guns is necessary to reduce crime is a simplistic bit of propaganda to justify disarming the population.  The elites have always been able to get guns.

As the invasion of Islamic immigrants has surged, German police have actually cracked down on gun permits:
The number of Germans applying for so-called "small firearms license", which are required to carry around blank guns and pepper spray, jumped 49 percent in the first half of 2016 to 402,301, according to federal statistics.

However, permits for firearms fell to 1.894 million as of the end of June compared to 1.898 million a year earlier.
One of the reasons that those who wish a disarmed population are so opposed to  having an armed United States citizenry, is that the United States serves as an example to other countries. 

Brazil has been considering loosening its highly restrictive gun laws.  Kenya has considered the possibility of loosening its highly restrictive laws.  Panama has been considering reducing the difficulty of getting a gun.  If you have a permit to own a gun in Panama, you may carry it concealed.  The United States and Switzerland are mentioned as positive examples for such legislation. 

It is the reason that the European elites, and socialists in Switzerland, have clamored for much greater restrictions on gun ownership. Switzerland has almost unbelievably low levels of crime, including crime with guns.  Switzerland serves as another example of an armed population with no ill effect.

The Czech Republic used the United States as an example as they instituted one of the least restrictive run laws in Europe. 

Will Germans be allowed to own, and carry, firearms for their own protection?  It could happen.  Have a few more well publicized attacks, and the political changes that have started could accelerate.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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