Germany Is Banning Paintball And Laser Tag
Apparently because the perpetrator of a school shooting in the country was a fan of both recreational activities.
The German government is planning to ban paintball and laser shooting games in reaction to the recent school massacre in which 15 people died.
Under legislation agreed by the ruling coalition of the chancellor, Angela Merkel, using air rifles to shoot paint-filled pellets at opponents is likely to be made illegal, and would be punishable with fines of up to €5,000 (£4,480).
The decision, which is expected to be fast-tracked through the Bundestag before the summer recess, comes two months after 17-year-old Tim Kretschmar shot dead 15 people at his former school in Winnenden, south-west Germany, with a weapon he had taken from his father’s bedroom. Kretschmar’s love of paintball as well as violent video and computer games was widely publicised.
This is your typical “correlation does not suggest causation” mistake. Just because a kid likes paintball does mean he/she is more likely to go on a shooting rampage. The same goes for guns. The mere presence of firearms does not lend itself to more crimes being committed.
Guns do not motivate people to commit crimes. Paintball and/or laser tag does not motivate people to commit crimes. Those motivations come from elsewhere, be it economics or some sort of mental disorder.
Of course, those motivations are difficult to discern and address. And our politicians, who feel the need to incessantly justify their existence by leaping into action and doing something in the face of any calamity or tragedy, find it a lot easier to enact bans on things than to develop policy that actually addresses why crimes might be happening.
Or, at least, enact laws that would allow the citizenry to better protect themselves from criminals.
