Dhe President of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch, spoke in connection with Violent crime with knives for gun ban zones at train stations or in inner cities. “This approach of prohibition zones in inner cities or at train stations makes perfect sense,” Münch told the newspapers of the Funke media group (Tuesday). A knife can cause serious and even fatal injuries in an attack, and at the same time is easily available.
The state cannot ban every knife, but many cities would set up weapon ban zones in critical areas “where the police can take offensive action,” said the BKA boss. While, according to Münch, a firearm is used in around half a percent of violent crimes, knives are currently used in 5.6 percent of cases of dangerous and serious bodily harm, and in eleven percent of robbery crimes.
At the same time, the BKA boss was open to further tightening of gun laws. The current weapons law already contains numerous regulations that restrict the use of firearms. However, examples in the recent past have shown that the use of a single weapon can result in many victims. “Therefore, I think further sensible restrictions are welcome,” said Münch.
In March, the SPD interior ministers, together with Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), called for stricter gun laws in Germany. With a view to the shooting attack in a prayer house of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg they declared that Faeser’s planned gun law reform was “urgently needed”.
Some cities, including in North Rhine-Westphalia, have already set up gun ban zones in recent months, as WELT reported. Police officers are also allowed to check people there without cause. The greater presence in Düsseldorf’s old town, as well as on the Kölner Ringen and Zülpicher Strasse, had confirmed the suspicions of the security authorities: almost 350 weapons were found in the past twelve months, including butterfly knives, daggers, one-hand knives, switchblade knives, pocket knives, irritant spray devices, batons, Telescopic batons, blackjacks, alarm guns, irritant and signal weapons.
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