- The FDP is talking about symbolic politics
From the FDP parliamentary group, there's criticism of Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser's (SPD) plan to reform gun laws. Whether there will be stricter rules for owning and carrying dangerous knives this legislative period remains uncertain.
"The proposals from the Federal Ministry of the Interior are not convincing," said deputy parliamentary group leader Konstantin Kuhle to the German Press Agency. Instead of tightening existing bans and enforcing violations, Faeser's plans are going in the wrong direction, the FDP politician argued. He added: "Symbolic legal changes are not the solution."
In light of the increase in knife attacks, Faeser wants to tighten gun laws. In the new gun law, she plans to further restrict the carrying of knives in public spaces, as announced in "Bild am Sonntag". In public, knives with a blade length of up to six centimeters, instead of the current twelve, would be allowed. During a visit to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Cologne, she said: "Six centimeters is okay. That's a small kitchen knife, if you're on the go and want to have a picnic."
She also told the newspaper that she wants to create a general ban on carrying dangerous switchblades. The spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of the Interior explained that there would be exceptions for those who have a legitimate interest, such as hunters, sportspeople, or those who cannot use two-handed knives due to physical disabilities.
Faeser also called on municipalities to establish more gun and knife-free zones. Such zones already exist in many cities. Kuhle said that the federal states could already establish extensive knife bans in public places and on public transportation. He urged them to do so if they deemed it necessary. "To curb the growing knife crime, existing bans must be enforced more strictly and violations punished," said the FDP politician.
Even now, knives are not allowed to be carried at assemblies, events, folk festivals, and other gatherings for good reason. The carrying of switchblades is already subject to strict rules.
The Greens reacted positively to the minister's initiative. Marcel Emmerich, the Green parliamentary group's spokesman in the Interior Committee of the Bundestag, said his faction is "open to going down this path." However, he also emphasized that even a corresponding reform "will not provide 100% security."
Faeser had commissioned a draft for the reform of the weapons law in January 2023. However, there is no cabinet decision on this yet. This means that the internal government consultation on the draft is still ongoing – the end is open. Above all, the FDP had expressed skepticism about a possible reform several times. There was no mention of new regulations for knives in the 2023 draft.
At that time, the Federal Minister of the Interior, among other things, proposed a stronger regulation of irritant, signal, and blank-firing weapons. The inspection of reliability and personal suitability for weapons ownership was to be more comprehensive.
States put pressure on
With her new initiative, Faeser is picking up on a proposal from the states. The Bundesrat had asked the federal government in June to examine a general ban on switchblades and a ban on carrying knives with fixed blades from six centimeters in length, as well as further restrictions on carrying weapons, especially in public transport and train stations, in the consultations on a possible new law.
The interior spokesman of the Union faction, Alexander Throm, considers even more extensive changes necessary with regard to knives. "The weapons law is certainly one of the instruments to curb this worrying increase," said the CDU politician. However, improved control possibilities in knife ban zones and regulations for a general weapons carrying ban for those who have already been noticed are also necessary. Faeser has been promising changes for two years now, but the government cannot deliver.
For the safety of train stations of Deutsche Bahn and S-Bahn, the Bahn and the Federal Police are responsible. In U-Bahn and buses, it is the operators and the respective state police.
In more than every tenth robbery, a knife is involved
In the past year, the police registered 8,951 cases of dangerous and severe bodily harm in which knives were used, either to injure someone or to threaten them – an increase of 5.6 percent compared to the previous year. Also, 10.9 percent of all robberies registered in 2023 were knife attacks. In the sense of police statistics, "knife attack" counts as any act in which the attack with a knife is immediately threatened or carried out against a person. Simply carrying a knife is not enough for this.
Faeser visited the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Cologne during her push for knife restrictions. She argued that a small kitchen knife, up to six centimeters long, would be allowed in public spaces for picnics.
Despite the FDP's criticism of Faeser's gun law plans, they acknowledged the need for stricter knife regulations, calling for existing bans to be enforced more strictly and violations to be punished.
