Summary
Germany is enforcing a strict knife ban at Christmas markets as part of a new security package passed in October following a deadly knife attack in Solingen that killed three and injured eight.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser pledged “strict enforcement” and “zero tolerance,” with fines of up to €10,000 for violations.
The ban applies to knives at festivals, markets, and large events, with police ensuring compliance.
The measures aim to enhance safety at Germany’s iconic markets, which have already seen one unrelated injury this season.
Unfortunately this just amounts to symbolic politics:
- anyone seriously willing to hurt others will ignore it or find ways around it
- the general public is mildly inconvenienced by any measures to enforce/control it
It’s not like carrying knives in public was legal before, anyway
You must be confusing us with the UK or France. You can carry (concealed or otherwise) knives up to 12 cm or folder that are not designed to be openable with one hand. If you want to transport a Chef’s knife on the metro, do it in your backpack, that is, you’re not supposed to have it at hand. Some types of knives (e.g. butterflies) are right-out outlawed, you’re not allowed to have them even in your own home.
Mostly though these weapon-free zones are a way to allow police to do searches.
Thats what I meant. It was already illegal to carry a knive out in the open in a public place. It didn’t prevent the Solingen stabbing.
What these weapon-free zones allow is harassment by police against minorities and POC
It isn’t, and has not been, illegal to carry knives out in the open in a public area. You don’t usually see people running around with 12cm Fahrtenmesser but it’s completely legal. That’s blade length, to be clear, not total length. This kind of thing. Or things like an Opinel, completely legal to EDC.
And mass gatherings aren’t the same thing as a random public place.
EDCing swords was outlawed in 2008 IIRC, now it’s aforementioned 12cm max, only a single edge etc.
Is that just a ban on bringing knives or a ban on selling them as well? A ban on knife sales, during Christmas time, in a city famous for knives, seems a bit weird.
You can still buy and transport knives, they just have to be in a “locked” container. Basically just not easily accessible.
Not sure why you are getting down voted, that is literally how the law works. If you buy a knife at the market and transport it inside it’s packaging you are allowed to carry it with you
Don’t see any downvotes, but the cause for that could be Berechtigungsmissbrauch.
Just wait until they hear about pointed sticks.
Sausage bun sellers hate this
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Mental illness is the problem, of which all religions are at the top of the list.
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All of Islams problems can be explained entirely by demographics, modern history, and wealth distribution — which directly impacts quality of education.
Iran was a relatively liberal democracy before western plutocracies chose to arm radicals and overthrow the government.
Afghanistan was relatively stable until the soviets invaded and overthrew the government, and the west taught them how to do terrorism/insurgency.
But sure, let’s just ignore history and act like Christianity wasn’t a radical terrorist org prior to science and universal education.
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You’re misinformed and those generalisations are nothing but uneducated hatred. Muslims do not all share the same beliefs, in the same way that Christians have different types of beliefs (like catholic, protestant, Jehovah’s witnesses or the Ku Klux Klan) The people you are talking about are a relatively small subset of extremists, which exist in every religion, even in Buddhism.
Btw, I’m not defending any religion here. I’m not a religious person. It’s just stupid to label a world religion with 2 billion members as potential terrorists. Most of them are just ordinary people living their daily lives.
You are a victim of right wing propaganda if you forget that.
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I’m as left wing as they come, but I don’t believe in ignoring facts or outright lying about something because the truth is not what you want to hear.
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Islam isn’t a race. It’s a religion and following it is a choice which can be changed at any time unlike race.
Lol I love how I’m called a racist because I’m pointing out how damaging a religion is… you’re being tolerant of the intolerant. Way to bend your shit world views to fit a narrative.
My life has been directly, negatively impacted by Christian extremism far more than Islamic extremism.
So far I have yet to enter a clinic that has been damaged by a Muslim’s molotov because someone is doing a thing that they think their special book says not to do.
All religion is incompatible with civilized society as long as there are those who would twist it into a cudgel to beat down the nonbelievers.
If you think that Islam is somehow worse than others, not only are you misinformed of current issues the world over, you are also misinformed about history in general.
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How to enforce it? Random searches, metal detectors? Seems unconstitutional.
Unconstitutional in regards to which constitution?
The German Grundgesetz.
Not really. The police can search you without cause, it’s the whole reason “Waffenverbotszonen” exist.
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The declaration of a weapons-free zone makes searches legal. If you don’t want to be searched, you’re free to not enter.
If you don’t want to be searched, you’re free to not enter
Yeah, that’s all fine and dandy until you realize this also applies to train stations, which for many people that don’t own a car are not places they can avoid going to unless they want to lose their job and ability to travel
Not in general I don’t think so. Probably depends on whether you’re talking about Frankfurt HBf or some forgotten platform at the arse end of the heath.
Courts are generally quite on top of making sure that those zones are very specific. All four of duration, time of day, space, and cause.
And, of course, over-regional train station are federal police jurisdiction. In SH that’s a downgrade when it comes to the quality of officers, in Bavaria an upgrade. Also in Hamburg which yes is still a police state. You get some, you lose some.
For entry to private events? I doubt it, it’s not just searching people randomly on the street.
