As a consequence of the shooting in Hamburg with eight dead, the police in the Hanseatic city want to better check gun owners in the future. A police working group of ten experts, including internal investigators and external experts, has drawn up a five-point plan, as reported by the “Hamburger Abendblatt” (Wednesday). Police President Ralf Martin Meyer told the newspaper that the plan is intended to minimize the risk of such acts.
“To do this, we are optimizing and professionalizing the work processes in the weapons authority with support from the competencies of the State Criminal Police Office,” said Meyer. In addition, the police want to counter the threat of suspected mentally ill people with a more intensive risk analysis by psychologists.
The chief of police also sees a need for legal action on the weapons law. In Meyer’s opinion, in the future all people who apply for a new small gun license will have to prove their psychological suitability at their own expense. And in the case of anonymous tips, a psychological aptitude test should already be ordered if there are “actual clues”. So far, authorities have first had to prove that someone is not suitable.
Two weeks ago, 35-year-old Philipp F. killed seven people at a community meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Hamburg – including an unborn child. He then killed himself. Nine other people were injured in the shooting.
There had previously been an anonymous tip about the perpetrator. Officials from the weapons authority had found no abnormalities in the sports shooter. As a result of the crime, there was a lot of criticism of the review of gun owners in general and the gunman in particular.
