Joachim Herrmann criticizes Nancy Faeser's "knee-jerk" demands for stricter gun laws.
The Minister of the Interior says to IPPEN.MEDIA: "First determine."
Munich – After the killing spree at Jehovah's Witnesses in Hamburg with eight dead, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) insists on tightening the weapons law.
The terrible act shows "how necessary changes" in the weapons law are, Faeser said in the ARD "Tagesthemen".
Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) finds these statements dubious and believes in a "reflexive" announcement driven by current events.
Herrmann finds the current gun law debate "not very serious"
It must be "carefully determined what exactly happened in Hamburg," said Herrmann at the request of IPPEN.MEDIA.
"No one can have a prescription for exactly what needs to happen now, so shortly after the fact." In the direction of Faeser, the CSU politician said: "To call for tightening of gun laws, even before you know specifically how the terrible crime in Hamburg happened came doesn't seem very serious to me."
Faeser calls for a ban on semi-automatic weapons similar to war weapons for private individuals.
As early as January, she presented a draft for stricter gun laws.
The Minister of the Interior wants to ban semi-automatic firearms, make it more difficult to buy blank pistols (which have so far been freely available) and give the authorities more rights to information about gun owners.
Herrmann was already talking about “symbolic politics” back then.
Faeser's plans create a lot of bureaucracy, they are a massive intervention in shooting sports and customs.
"On the other hand, there is hardly any gain for public safety and order," Herrmann told our editorial team in January.
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Herrmann on gun law: "Have one of the strictest in Europe"
Faeser sees things differently and therefore wants stricter gun rules.
You have to "go to the law and see if there are still gaps," said the interior minister on Friday, one day after the killing spree.
The alleged murder weapon of the alleged perpetrator Philipp F. is a semi-automated pistol that he legally owned as a marksman.
Whether such weapons should also be banned will now be examined, said Faeser.
"We will certainly discuss that." Herrmann rejects this: "We already have one of the strictest gun laws in Europe."
Herrmann speaks of 1.3 million marksmen in Germany who would be severely affected by a ban.
The CSU politician can "understand their anger if, immediately after the crime, they reflexively call for a further tightening of gun laws." A ban on semi-automatic pistols "would deprive an entire division of the basis for practicing its sport," says Herrmann.
"Because the vast majority of pistols are semi-automatic."
Fatal shots in Hamburg: The pictures of the crime evening
Fatal shots in Hamburg: The pictures of the crime evening
Faeser calls for stricter gun rules - "psychologically appropriate"?
After the alleged perpetrator shot seven people and then killed himself, the question arises as to whether the killing spree could not have been prevented.
It was only in January that the weapons authority received anonymous information about the alleged perpetrator's mental illness.
He was also particularly angry at Jehovah's Witnesses, it said.
During a home visit, apart from a single projectile outside the safe, no violation of firearms regulations was found.
Everything went according to the rules, the police said.
Several politicians such as Hamburg's Interior Minister Andy Grote (SPD) then called for the "psychological regulations" to be adjusted.
According to Faeser, when applying for a gun owner's license, it should be checked in future "whether someone is psychologically suitable".
Herrmann says: "If there were actually indications of psychological problems on the part of the perpetrator - shouldn't the weapons authorities have acted according to the existing law and confiscate the weapon?" are to be drawn from it.”
List of rubrics: © Matthias Balk / dpa
