Austria's Green Party calls for tougher gun laws weapons after German authorities said last week's suspected terrorist attack in Munich was carried out by an 18-year-old Austrian who was not supposed to own a firearm, DPA reported.
“It is not acceptable for an 18-year-old, who has been banned from owning a firearm, to acquire one without supervision,” said the parliamentary group of the Greens, quoted by the “Standard” newspaper. The Greens and the Austrian People's Party (ANP) govern Austria as a coalition.
The young Austrian shooter killed by the police, despite the ban, had acquired an old rifle and cartridges for it from a private gun collector. According to local law, this is a weapon category “Ce“, which includes hand-loaded long-barreled weapons such as hunting rifles.
Unlike professional sellers of similar weapons, private individuals are not required to check their customers for a possible gun ban. In the case of private sales, the buyer can acquire the purchased weapon immediately, while if the weapon is purchased from a professional dealer, acquisition is possible after a three-day period.
The Greens called on Interior Minister Gerhard Karner of the People's Party to undertake a “significant tightening” of the general ban on the private sale of weapons.
The General Secretary of the ANP, Christian Stocker, signaled that he is ready to investigate possible loopholes in the law. However, in a comment on the pages of the “Standard” he rejected the possibility of banning private sales.
After the shooting outside the Israeli consulate in Munich, the ANP again called on authorities to monitor internet communications as part of the fight against extremism.
Meanwhile, British-born Hollywood actor Idris Elba joined British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a campaign by “Downing Street” No. 10 for the fight against cold weapon crimes, reported PA media and DPA, quoted by BTA.
Elba, himself a campaigner against gun crime, will join Starmer this morning as the Prime Minister launches a campaign to persuade young people not to join criminal gangs. The coalition will bring together various non-governmental organisations, families of people who have lost their lives in knife crime and youth victims of knife crime, as well as Idris Elba and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
Technology companies, sports organisations, health services and the police are also taking part in what is expected to be the first annual summit dedicated to knife crime. The coalition will work with experts to investigate why young people are drawn into this type of criminal activity.
„We need to tackle the root causes of knife crime, not just the symptoms. "The coalition is a positive step toward healing our communities from the inside out," Elba said.
Prime Minister Starmer is expected to share how personal the task is for him, citing his career as a lawyer.
„As a prosecutor, I have seen first-hand the devastating impact of cold weapon crime on young people and their families. This is a national crisis that we must face. We must come together as a country – the politicians, the families of the victims, the young people themselves, the community leaders and the technology companies – to tackle knife crime and take back our streets," Starmer said earlier.
Ministers in the British government have already taken measures to strengthen legislation around the sale of knives on the internet.
Commander Stephen Kleiman, tasked with the national police to fight knife crime, has been tasked with tracking how such weapons are being sold online and supplied to minors and to close loopholes in the law.
He will report to the Home Secretary by the end of the year.
“Getting guns off our streets and ensuring there are strong and clear consequences for violence is vital,” said Minister Cooper.
The announcement of the coalition is the first step in the Government's 10-year plan to tackle knife crime, which will be central to its mission to keep Britain's streets safe.