Steven Mace
05-07-2002, 01:31 AM
Schroeder presents gun control plan in wake of school shooting
Mon May 6, 6:43 PM ET
BERLIN - Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and state governors agreed Monday to swiftly raise the age at which Germans can buy firearms in the wake of a school shooting that left 17 dead.
After three hours of talks, Schroeder said officials would work out proposals over the next few weeks that parliament could pass before its summer break.
Tighter gun control has drawn cross-party support since an expelled pupil fatally shot 16 people — mostly teachers — and himself at his former school in the eastern city of Erfurt on April 26.
On Monday, Schroeder suggested raising the minimum legal age for acquiring firearms for recreational use from 18 to 25, though he made plain that the states may only agree to an age limit of 21 — the most widely proposed solution.
By coincidence, the lower house of parliament passed new gun control measures the day of the shooting. The government now wants to amend the bill before it goes before the upper house, where the states are represented, on May 31.
In Erfurt, students from the stricken high school went to class Monday for the first time since the slayings, taking up temporary quarters at a former elementary school with replacement teachers brought in from across Germany.
Security officers were posted outside to ensure that only students got in.
Some 700 students in grades five through 12 from the Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium were offered four hours of classes with counselors present.
But attendance was voluntary and many chose to stay away. In addition, some teachers were attending funerals of their colleagues.
The school is to be renovated and won't reopen until the fall.
Robert Steinhaeuser, the 19-year-old suicide gunman, had been thrown out of the school last fall for faking a doctor's note.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020506/ap_wo_en_ge/germany_school_shooting_93
Steve Mace
Mon May 6, 6:43 PM ET
BERLIN - Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and state governors agreed Monday to swiftly raise the age at which Germans can buy firearms in the wake of a school shooting that left 17 dead.
After three hours of talks, Schroeder said officials would work out proposals over the next few weeks that parliament could pass before its summer break.
Tighter gun control has drawn cross-party support since an expelled pupil fatally shot 16 people — mostly teachers — and himself at his former school in the eastern city of Erfurt on April 26.
On Monday, Schroeder suggested raising the minimum legal age for acquiring firearms for recreational use from 18 to 25, though he made plain that the states may only agree to an age limit of 21 — the most widely proposed solution.
By coincidence, the lower house of parliament passed new gun control measures the day of the shooting. The government now wants to amend the bill before it goes before the upper house, where the states are represented, on May 31.
In Erfurt, students from the stricken high school went to class Monday for the first time since the slayings, taking up temporary quarters at a former elementary school with replacement teachers brought in from across Germany.
Security officers were posted outside to ensure that only students got in.
Some 700 students in grades five through 12 from the Johann Gutenberg Gymnasium were offered four hours of classes with counselors present.
But attendance was voluntary and many chose to stay away. In addition, some teachers were attending funerals of their colleagues.
The school is to be renovated and won't reopen until the fall.
Robert Steinhaeuser, the 19-year-old suicide gunman, had been thrown out of the school last fall for faking a doctor's note.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020506/ap_wo_en_ge/germany_school_shooting_93
Steve Mace