In light of the federal government’s ongoing review and reassessment of firearm legislation, the German Hunting Association (DJV) is calling for a clear differentiation in crime statistics between legal and illegal weapons.
Helmut Dammann-Tamke, the president of the association, told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” that they urgently require a nationwide statistic detailing whether a crime was committed using a legal or an illegal firearm. He pointed to an evaluation from North Rhine-Westphalia, which revealed that hunters are involved in only 0.01% of crimes involving weapons.
Dammann-Tamke further denounced the tightening of gun laws-decisions made by politicians in recent years following high-profile crimes-as a “completely false focus.” He dismissed initiatives, such as the planned restriction of long guns for hunters, as a “mere placebo.”
Instead, he argued that lawmakers should prioritize the estimated 20 million illegal firearms thought to be in Germany. “We need more undercover investigators and special task forces dedicated to drying up the illicit black market, rather than subjecting law-abiding citizens to bureaucratic harassment,” he stated.
As an example, Dammann-Tamke recalled that the six-time murderer from Stade purchased his semi-automatic weapon and ammunition for 4,000 euros on the black market in Berlin. The association president concluded by noting that, apparently, acquiring such weapons remains too easy in Germany.
