Last week, the German states of Lower Saxony and Bremen submitted a draft bill to the Bundesrat (Federal Council) to amend the Weapons Act. Further details of the proceedings can be found in the procedural information. The draft has not yet been debated. It is scheduled to be presented to the committees for discussion at the Bundesrat meeting on May 17, 2019.
Procedural information: http://dipbt.bundestag.de/extrakt/ba/WP19/2476/247689.html
Draft law BR DrS 207/19: https://www.bundesrat.de/SharedDocs/drucksachen/2019/0201-0300/207-19.pdf
The draft law was submitted to the Federal Council with the following justification:
"Attacks with knives or weapons continue to occur in high numbers. They are particularly dangerous and undermine the public's sense of security."
However, meaningful and reliable statistics on knife attacks do not exist! Feelings, opinions, and impressions are clearly given more weight in this case than dependable statistics. This perception is further fueled by undifferentiated and highly biased reporting in the mass media about an allegedly sharp increase in knife crimes. Indeed, a thorough effort is being made to undermine the public's sense of security and pave the way for blanket bans on products by politicians.
Together with the German Association of Cutting and Household Goods Manufacturers, we are therefore in contact with North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul and have clearly taken a stand against the draft law.
Furthermore, we support Messer Magazine's call to write protest letters against the draft law. You can find more information and a sample letter for download at the following link: https://www.wieland-verlag.com/sites/default/files/bildmaterial/musterbrief_waffenrecht.pdf
As a knife manufacturer with a 150-year tradition, we naturally want to work together with all our industry partners to prevent knives from being criminalized by politicians for populist reasons. As is so often the case, blanket bans on products only hurt law-abiding citizens who abide by the law and, in our case, enjoy good knives.
Criminals who misuse knives for illegal acts will continue to disregard laws and prohibitions. Only increased police presence in crime hotspots will help.
We will exhaust all available possibilities to prevent widespread uncertainty among all knife enthusiasts in Germany and continue to provide objective information.