Nfter the shooting spree in Hamburg that killed eight people, calls for a reform of gun laws increased. Among other things, the managing director of the Greens parliamentary group, Irene Mihalic, partially questioned the current regulations. It is, for example, “more than questionable why only under-25-year-olds have to submit an official medical or psychological report when applying for a gun permit,” she told the editorial network Germany.
Since firearms endanger human lives in the wrong hands, all applicants – regardless of age – should be required to submit such reports, Mihalic demanded. Appropriate aptitude tests should actually have to be repeated at regular intervals.
“Since the suspected gunman from Hamburg apparently held a weapon license, it must now be clarified exactly how he got there,” demanded the Greens politician. “We cannot prevent such rampages one hundred percent, but we are currently not doing everything that is possible to ensure that people like the gunman in Hamburg do not get their hands on firearms.”
put controls to the test
The domestic political spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Sebastian Hartmann, told the RND: “The perpetrator from Hamburg apparently had legal access to weapons as a marksman.” would have resulted in the revocation of the license to own a firearm.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) had previously insisted on tightening gun laws. She announced that she would check the draft for tightening the gun law again for gaps.
The fatal shots were fired on Thursday evening during an event by Jehovah’s Witnesses. The police were there quickly. The perpetrator shot himself. According to information from security circles, the 35-year-old shooter was not known to be an extremist. Philipp F. comes from Memmingen in Bavaria and, according to dpa information, had been registered in Hamburg since 2015. The murder weapon was an HK P30, a self-loading pistol originally designed for the police by the German manufacturer Heckler & Koch in 9 mm calibre.
Home visit after warning
Since December 12, F. had been in legal possession of the pistol as a sports shooter, said police chief Ralf Martin Meyer. The weapons authority received an anonymous tip in January. He suggested checking whether F. was legally in possession of weapons and investigating the suspicion of mental illness. At the beginning of February, F. was visited unannounced by two officials from the weapons authority. There were no relevant complaints.
F. was lawfully in possession of a weapon owner’s license. Both the semi-automatic weapon and ammunition were locked in a safe. There was a bullet in the safe. For this he was admonished. There was no legal basis for further steps. Meyer admitted that this is now different against the background of the crime. “You have to see what you can do better.” Laws may have to be changed.”
According to the prosecutor’s office, after the shots were fired, the police found 15 loaded magazines, each with 15 cartridges, and four boxes of ammunition in F.’s apartment.