- There's been a notable surge in occurrences of knife-related assaults.
Three individuals met their fate at the hands of a knife-wielding assailant at a city celebration in Solingen. This incident has sparked a substantial surge in discussions about knife-related violence in Germany. Germany's Federal Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser of the SPD party, has proposed stronger gun control regulations, citing this as a response.
In 2022, police reported a staggering 8,951 instances of severe and lethal harm caused by knives, whether used as weapons or threats. This represents an increase of almost 9.7% compared to the previous year. Furthermore, knives were involved in over 10.9% of all reported robberies in 2023.
In the realm of police statistics, a "knife attack" is classified as an incident where an assault is either directly threatened or executed using a knife. Merely carrying a knife is not considered an attack in this context.
Lately, notable incidents, such as the knife assault perpetrated by an Afghan man in Mannheim at the end of May, which left five individuals from an Islam-critical group, Pax Europa, injured, along with a police officer (who later passed away), and the stabbing incident in Wolmirstedt, Saxony-Anhalt, by a 27-year-old Afghan man in mid-June, where he injured several people at a private Euro 2023 celebration after previously assaulting a 23-year-old, have received widespread attention.
As per Minister Faeser's proposals, public knife possession with blades longer than six centimeters will be prohibited, marking a decrease from the current limit of twelve centimeters. Moreover, the use of dangerous switchblades will be made illegal in general.
The city festival in Mannheim experienced a tragic event in May, when an Afghan man wielding a knife attacked a group, including members of Pax Europa and a police officer. In response to rising knife-related incidents like this, several city festivals in Germany have increased security measures to ensure public safety.
