Learning From History

German Chancellor Calls for Raids on Homes

This headline reads like something out of the 1930's or 1940's. But sadly, it is a modern headline, highlighting the frightening parallels between the early 20th Century and today. The German Chancellor's remarks were in response to a school shooting in Germany earlier this month that left 15 people dead. The headline comes from Peter Neidek's Dissent Blog on PrisonPlanet.com.

Monday, March 16, 2009 - Today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded even tougher gun control measures relating to storage of firearms and ammunition in Germany. With an audacity that defies belief the former East German communist also called for unannounced raids on homes and offices of registered firearm owners. In an interview with the Deutschlandfunk Merkel said: “We must do everything to prevent children’s access to firearms.” As a further consequence of the recent mass shooting in Germany Merkel wants citizens to be more alert and pay particular attention to young people.“

Although Merkel characterized these raids as "unannounced visits by state authorities" I have no doubt that the German media of the 30's would portray a visit from the Geheime Staatspolizei in a similar manner.
German firearms laws are some of the most restrictive in Europe. Before even applying for a firearms permit you have to have a perfect attendance at a gun club for a year. The permit also requires guns stored to be locked up and the access to the guns controlled by the owner. If you actually use your firearm in defense, someone had better be bleeding first. Profusely.
Such home visits are diametrically opposed to the basic principles of a free and Democratically run government. In such governments the citizens are to be left alone unless there is a reason to believe they are involved in some crime. How much harder would it be for Merkel to call for these "visits" to be confiscations?
Also keep in mind that German law does permit "inspections" of the permit holder's storage of his firearms, but refusing such an inspection is grounds to revoke the ownership permit. To be fair, such visits are usually arranged a few days ahead of time, but the law does not require such. Imagine a sleepy-eyed resident answering his door at 3 a.m.
"Guten morgen, Herr Hoffmann." Says the policeman with a smile. "You vill show us your guns now, ja?" Of course, the police can make a swift inspection or they could decide to take their time and check each serial number and inspect each firearm.
Such invasive tactics are precisely why gun owners in America have consistently been against forced registration and government record keeping of firearms owners. In Germany, such a list is literally just a computer-command away. In the United States, such capability is supposed to be difficult. Although, as I pointed out in an earlier blog post, Illinois Senator Bobby Rush has introduced H.R. 45 that would repeal the prohibition on creating a gun owner database.

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