August 2002

North Carolina Rifle & Pistol Association

Established 1938. Affiliated with NRA and CMP

The European Puzzle

President's Column, August 2002

During the month of July I spent some time in Germany. I really enjoyed myself – I love the people, the history, the atmosphere, and especially the food! My visit was also an eye-opening reminder of all the wonderful things we take for granted here in the USA though.

Our misguided neighbors, colleagues, relatives and acquaintances, the ones who think we shouldn’t be permitted to own guns, often point to the European countries with their strict gun control as a model of what we should be. That concept is horrifying to me, as it should be to you.

While the Western European countries are “democracies,” at least on paper, in many ways they lack what we consider to be the most basic of civil liberties, and they suffer from social ills that many of us would find difficult to imagine as part of day-to-day life.

It seems almost stupidly obvious to us that banning guns doesn’t reduce crime, but that’s the biggest argument we get from our misinformed do-gooders. I would hate to surrender my guns in exchange for what most Europeans must face.

While violent crime such as murder is generally lower in Europe than it is in the US, the incidence of other crimes is astonishingly high. In Germany the middle-class citizenry is constantly beset with the problems of petty theft, burglary and home invasions. Things many of us take for granted, like leaving a child’s bicycle out overnight, or forgetting to lock the front door of the house, are simply not done there. In Germany that child’s bicycle would be gone before morning. In Germany that unlocked door would be used as an entry point for burglars or home invaders. Since German citizens are not permitted weapons for self-defense, they are at the mercy of the criminals. In Europe criminals are left unpunished with even more frequency than here.

In Germany you cannot even leave a flower pot outside, or it will be stolen. You had better not walk the streets with a wallet in your back pocket, or you will be targeted by pickpockets. If your wallet is stolen from your back pocket and you report it to the Polizei, they will tell you that it was your fault because you failed to take steps to avoid being a target.

While in the Market Square in the city of Bonn, I saw a woman chasing a man through the street, he carrying a pocketbook, her screaming for help because he had grabbed her pocketbook. No one moved – everyone sat where they were and watched. After they passed, conversation returned to whatever the market-goers had been discussing before the momentary interruption.

Yes, such things happen in the US, and yes, in some cities the reaction may be similar, but it’s not typical. If such a thing had happened in my town, I feel sure that several market-goers would have joined the chase, and the perpetrator would have been caught.

It’s difficult for me to describe exactly what I felt – all I can convey is isolated instances, but there is a feeling I got there that I don’t generally feel while in the US. I rarely felt concerned about personal safety, but I was constantly concerned about my personal belongings. It was as if anything I possessed was fair game for anyone who took a fancy to it.

There was also a higher level of rudeness and lack of respect for individuals there. We are, perhaps, at somewhat greater personal risk due to heightened personal freedoms, but in general the people of the United States extend more courtesy and respect toward each other than do the people of Europe.

In most European countries the Police are not local forces; they are State Police. They are heavily armed, and instead of being an arm of the citizenry they are feared by the populace. In Germany you must register your place of residence with the Polizei. If you move to a new address or different town, the first thing you must do is notify the Polizei that you are there. The civil and criminal penalties for failing to register with the police are substantial.

The police presence is palpable. They are everywhere, and they are never alone. In the US it is common to see a lone police officer on patrol; that does not happen in Germany. The Polizei are always in pairs, whether walking the streets or patrolling the highways. It’s also quite common to see the Polizei in heavily armored troop carrier-like vehicles, or traveling somewhere in full riot gear.

The Polizei hold themselves apart from the citizenry as well. Here in the US I know quite a few law enforcement officers, and I’ve been known to strike up a conversation with a patrol officer in public, even if I don’t know him or her. No one does that with the the Polizei. They are isolated and insular.

Speaking of the Polizei, it’s their job to enforce the laws on the Autobahn. Many Americans who’ve never been to Germany have this vision of the Autobahn system as being a highway with no rules and no limits. It’s a symbol of the freedoms Europeans enjoy that we don’t.

Unfortunately, that’s all it is – a symbol. Like most symbolic things, there’s little substance behind it and the legend does not match the reality. Traffic is heavily regulated on the Autobahn system, with literally dozens of traffic law signs that are all over the place. Enforcement of these laws is much, much more strict than in the US. There are sections of the Autobahn where there is no posted speed limit (for cars and motorcycles only!), but these sections are usually very short, and there are many other restrictions in place. Most of the Autobahn system has posted speed limits, typically from 80 to 120 kph (approx 50mph to 75mph). Going more than 5mph over the posted speed limit is almost a guaranteed ticket, and naturally radar detectors are banned.

The point of all of this anecdotal information is this: when someone says that we should be more like the “democracies” in Europe, remember “democracy” isn’t synonymous with Freedom. We are a Republic based on the ideals of personal liberty, and with that liberty we incur some risk. The risk is worth it. Giving up those risks for some perceived security means that we would, like the Europeans, simply trade freedoms for new risks. It’s not a price I’m willing to pay.

Stay safe, and stay cool!