WFSA Current News - April 2002

April 29, 2002

Violent video condemned in Germany
            Criticism was today levelled at the German government for failing to legislate against violent videos and games, following the school shooting in Erfurt on April 26.
            The murder of sixteen people came as Germany was in the process of tightening its gun laws. It is being acknowledged that the proposed legal changes would not have stopped the shooting.
            Reuters reported in an article by Philip Blenkinsop that many people are aware of the difficulties of putting high security into school buildings. At the same time, pre-election debate has turned to the problem of violent images, to which young people throughout the western world have been increasingly exposed over recent years.
            Conservative Guenther Beckstein complained that the parliamentary upper house called for video bans two years ago, but nothing had been done. A range of community groups have begun adding their voices not only to calls for more school security but also for restrictions on violent videos and computer games as used by the Erfurt murderer.

April 28, 2002

Europe ’s tight gun laws may not be the answer
            The Los Angeles Times has run an article taking a look across a number of countries’ different gun laws. Staff writer Sebastian Rotella acknowledges the contribution of several co-authors in preparing the extensive report.
             The thrust of the piece is to show that Europe is now suffering a steadily rising crime rate, and that the application of gun laws new and old is not sufficient to halt the trend. It is to the article’s credit that it acknowledges a number of facts frequently cited as being likely causes of firearm-related violence, and then dismisses them. For instance, European countries tend to be more generous than the United States in providing material safety nets for the disadvantaged, but that has not prevented rage killings taking place there.
            As a further example, the total ban on handguns in the United Kingdom has not prevented a steep rise in crime, to the extent where tactical response squads have now had to be formed in answer to drug-related criminal activity that incorporates fully automatic weapons.
            The article specifically names Eastern Europe and especially old Yugoslavia as the source of many smuggled arms. It details the looting of armories in Albania , where as many as a million items of military hardware up to and including anti-tank missiles were stolen some years ago. These provide stockpiles of illegal arms to supply criminal activity on a large scale.
            European countries such as France , Spain and Italy have murder rates that are generally low, but there are undoubtedly rising levels of violence. In a break from trends elsewhere, discussion in his country on this matter has prompted the Italian Defence Minister to suggest publicly that the Italian gun laws should be loosened to allow citizens the option of further self-protection.

April 26, 2002

Gun laws in Europe
            Increased discussion about gun laws has begun in Europe after a spate of murders committed in different countries where guns were the weapons employed.
            According to an Associated Press report out of London, the school shooting in Erfurt, Germany has been the catalyst for further scrutiny. A series of laws were approved by the German parliament, including increased restrictions on items such as airguns and the banning of certain knives. How these steps relate to the intended aim of the legislation is not made clear.
            A month ago in France, a man carrying three handguns shot dead eight Parisian city employees and questions have been asked about why he was able to obtain the guns when his licence had expired. French gun laws have been described as being already strict, and the permit system requires renewal every three years. France has traditionally allowed householders of good repute to keep a handgun for defence of the home, but again the result has been calls for more restrictions on lawful ownership.
            In Switzerland, a man killed fourteen people in September, 2001, in a spree killing using a firearm. Switzerland has an enviable record of peaceful behaviour and very little violent crime. It has long been the practice for military firearms and ammunition to be kept in the home by members of the militia, which incorporates most of the country’s men. But now the government has indicated it will consider tightening the gun laws.
            Sweden is cited as a country where the gun laws are very strict, but handgun crime is rising there regardless. The Swedish Justice Ministry admits that the problem is smuggled handguns. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, where all legal handguns were banned following the multiple shooting murders of Dunblane, the handgun crime rate is rising and the guns employed are obviously being smuggled in with no regard for the official restrictions.

April 19, 2002

Gun legislation before French elections
            Campaigning in the coming French elections has focused on law and order issues. Both the rightist Jean-Marie Le Pen and conservative Jacques Chirac have criticized Socialist Lionel Jospin’s government for introducing tighter gun law, including what the report calls a “ban on the use of weapons of war by recreational gun users”. Exactly how these types of gun are to be defined is not clear. French law already requires gun licence applicants to submit to medical and police checks, but the moves follow the March 27 murders where eight people were killed in a shooting.
            A Reuters report today quoted Le Pen as attacking the anti-gun move because of the impact it will have on hunters, who are high in number in France . Chirac recently made a statement calling for legislative changes for the purpose of cracking down on illegal arms trafficking, but Le Pen dismissed the validity of the present move. He went on to say the government is trying to overturn people’s “natural right to legitimate defence”. He cited high crime rates as a reason why the proposals should not be allowed to proceed.

April 5, 2002

Canadian gopher cull opposed on emotional grounds
            The Richardson ground squirrel breeds to plague proportions. The usual natural controlling factors, such as drowning in their holes by accumulating ground water, often fail to control burgeoning numbers, now in the millions.
            Kanina Holmes, writing in a Reuters release today, reports that the province of Saskatchewan is offering prizes for the most successful gopher hunters in the region.
            Sponsored by the Saskatoon Wildlife Federation, the Turcott Memorial Gopher Derby is typical of the way that animal populations in surplus can be harvested in a money-raising exercise that benefits other species that are not so secure. For the cost of C$20 each, many of the local hunters enter the competition, and the highest ten tallies over a period of weeks share in the prize pool. Surplus funds are used for the benefit of other less abundant species in wildlife sanctuaries. The Federation describes the plan as both humane and safe. Wildlife authorities are saying unequivocally that the animals are in plague numbers. 
            Methods previously tried, including trapping, have failed. Animal activists complain that shooting is inappropriate, but the only other option is the use of strychnine. Poisoning is a painful fate for the animals, and it is often damaging to the environment.
            When it comes to offering alternatives to the local farmers, animal activist Sinikka Crossland, a nurse from British Columbia , advises substitution of “a sharing attitude”, according to the report. She is said to describe the hunting competition as a “barbaric bloodbath”.
            It is a recurring fact that many modern preservationist-style animal activists prefer a silent and less visible fate for animals, even when it is more painful and less efficient, than the species-specific but more overt shooting.