Faeser wants to ban long knives from public view
Attacks with knives have been increasing recently. To stop this trend, the Federal Minister of the Interior wants to tighten regulations on knives. She plans to completely ban a specific type of knife.
In light of an increase in knife attacks, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser plans to further tighten gun laws. In the new gun law, she announced in "Bild am Sonntag" that she will "further restrict the carrying of knives in public." This means that knives with a blade length of up to six centimeters, instead of the current twelve centimeters, will be allowed to be carried in public. Exceptions will only be made for household knives "in closed containers after purchase." "For dangerous switchblades, we want to create a general ban on carrying them. We will present the corresponding changes to the gun law soon," said Faeser.
Similar tightening measures had previously been demanded by the states. The Minister then called on the municipalities to create more "gun and knife-free zones." Knife bans must be "strictly enforced, just like the Federal Police does with checks at train stations," she said. According to police statistics, there were 8951 cases of dangerous and serious bodily harm involving knives last year, either to injure someone or to threaten them - an increase of 5.6 percent compared to the previous year.
In Germany, the acquisition and possession of certain knives such as butterfly knives are already prohibited. A violation can be punished with a prison sentence of up to three years or a fine. According to the Ministry of the Interior, knives with a one-handed openable blade, so-called one-handed knives, as well as fixed-blade knives with a blade length of over twelve centimeters may not be carried outside of one's own home or property. Violations can result in a fine.
In response to the rising knife attacks, the minister also suggested strengthening the enforcement of existing knife-free zones in German cities. Controversially, she proposed a complete ban on specific types of knives, similar to the restrictions on certain swords and butterfly knives already in place.
