Airgun sales soar in Germany amid terror fears with more than 550,000 now holding licences for minor arms
Surge means even non-lethal weapons sellers struggling to satisfy demand
Increase in migrant crime and terror attacks behind the increase in guns
Gun craze exemplified by Carolin Matthie who has become an internet sensation
Student bought a gun after being followed home by foreign men shouting at her
By MARIO LEDWITH
DAILYMAIL.COM
2 February 2018
Weapons sales are soaring in Germany, prompting fears that a migrant crimewave and terrorism have made people feel unsafe.
Germans held a record 557,560 licences for minor arms by the end of last year, compared to 300,949 in January 2016.
The surge of more than 85 per cent in just two years has left some dealers of non-lethal weapons such as air and stun guns unable to keep up with demand.
While the exact reason behind the increase remains unclear, some experts have blamed the fallout over Angela Merkel’s decision to open the door to one million refugees in 2015.
Since then Germany has experienced a 52.7 per cent spike in crime carried out asylum seekers, mostly young men, including the New Year’s Eve sexual assaults in Cologne.
Others said the spate of terror attacks in Europe over the past few years had driven people to arm themselves.
Ingo Meinhard, from the Association of German Gunsmiths and Gun Dealers, said such atrocities had fuelled ‘uncertainty’. ‘After the barbaric attacks of November 2015 in Paris, young and old, both male and female, came from all walks of life and asked for free defence,’ he said.
The recent craze over gun self-defence has been exemplified by Carolin Matthie, a computer science student in Berlin, who has become an internet sensation.
The part-time model, 24, was prompted to buy a £166 Walther P99 air pistol in 2016 after being followed back to her university halls by six drunken men shouting at her in a foreign language.
Since obtaining the £40 permit – which simply requires the purchaser to be over 18 and have a clean criminal record – Miss Matthie has been posting online tutorials for women on how to use the weapons.
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