GERMANY WILL face pressure to re-evaluate its already tough gun laws in response to yesterday’s school shooting.
Over the past decade more teenagers have gone on the rampage in Germany than in any other country apart from the US. Germany also has some of the world’s strictest gun laws.
Handguns are on sale only to those 18 or over, with heavier weapons restricted to over-21s. No weapon can be purchased legally without a firearms ownership licence, which is available only after personal checks.
None of this prevented a 17-year-old former pupil of Albertville school in Winnenden from going on the rampage. According to Spiegel online, the student’s family kept 18 different weapons at home.
Germany’s ZDF TV, quoting police sources, confirmed that one of the father’s weapons was missing.
Last night experts suggested that early recognition offered a better chance than tougher gun laws of stopping potential teenage killers. “There is a preparation time which goes on for weeks and even months,” Dr Jens Hoffman, a criminal psychologist at Darmstadt’s technical university said yesterday.
Dr Hoffmann suggested that a system of psychological risk evaluation could have spotted the killer. It would include questioning to reveal whether a person identified with teenage killers. – ( Guardianservice)