Knife crime: FDP parliamentary group vice-chair: Gun law reform plans not convincing

The FDP parliamentary group has criticized the plan by Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) to tighten gun laws. “The proposals from the Federal Ministry of the Interior are not convincing,” said the deputy parliamentary group leader, Konstantin Kuhle, to the German Press Agency.

In view of the increase in knife attacks, Faeser wants to tighten gun laws. In the new gun laws, she will “further restrict the use of knives in public spaces,” she announced in the “Bild am Sonntag” newspaper. In public, knives will only be allowed to have a blade length of six centimeters instead of the previous twelve centimeters.

“We want to create a general ban on handling dangerous switchblades. We will present corresponding changes to gun laws shortly,” said Faeser. She also called on municipalities to set up more gun and knife ban zones.

Weapons ban zones already exist in many cities

According to current legislation, the states could already set up extensive knife ban zones in public places and on public transport, said Kuhle. They should make use of this if they consider such bans necessary. “In order to curb the growing knife crime, existing bans must be more closely monitored and violations sanctioned,” said the FDP politician.

There is also good reason why knives are not allowed to be carried at meetings, events, festivals and other gatherings. Carrying switchblades is rightly subject to strict rules.

Green: Even reform would not bring 100% security

There were, however, positive reactions to the minister’s initiative from the ranks of the Greens. Marcel Emmerich, chairman of the Greens’ parliamentary group in the Bundestag’s Interior Committee, said that his group was “open to going down this path”. It was logical for politicians to send a signal here. At the same time, people had to be “told the truth” and made clear that even such a reform would not bring “100 percent security”.

Faeser had presented a draft for the reform of gun laws in January 2023. This draft has since been in the process of being voted on within the government – with an open end. The FDP in particular had repeatedly expressed skepticism about it. There was no mention of new regulations for knives in this draft.

At the time, the Federal Minister of the Interior had proposed stricter regulation of blank-firing, signal and irritant weapons. The checks on reliability and personal suitability to own a weapon should therefore be more extensive.