Deadly German School shooting. (Insider Report).

Shortly before 11:00 a.m. on April 26th, students at Gutenberg High School in Erfurt, Germany, were taking their final college-level exams when 19-year-old Robert Steinhaeuser, dressed in black and wearing a ski mask, emerged from a restroom armed with a pump-action shotgun and a handgun. Steinhaeuser had been expelled earlier this year, in part because he had forged doctors' excuses to avoid attending classes. Expulsion meant that he could neither receive a high school diploma nor take the university entrance exams.

Apparently bent on revenge and unhindered by Germany's draconian gun control laws, he plotted and carried out the deadliest school shooting in the country's post-war history. As the New York Times reported on April 28th, he "had acquired both his handgun and his pump-action shotgun [which he did not use] entirely legally," having "joined an officially accredited club for sport shooting, passed rigorous tests demonstrating his knowledge and ability and acquired official permission to purchase his weapons."

According to student accounts, Steinhaeuser entered a classroom where he killed two girls (ages 14 and 15), then went from room to room gunning down teachers and other school personnel. Eventually, as German special forces stormed the building and began closing in, he committed suicide in a classroom. The rampage left dead 11 teachers, a deputy principal, a secretary, the two students, and a policeman. At least 10 other persons were injured. As in the case of other school shootings in the United States and elsewhere, the school personnel were unarmed, making them easy targets for armed thugs.

Germany's gun control statutes require, among other things, registering all privately owned firearms and the licensing of gun owners. They also preclude teachers and school administrators from carrying guns. A Waffenbesitz-karte (Weapons Possession Card) is required to possess, transport, and use privately owned firearms for hunting or sport shooting. Purchase of a hunting rifle also requires a valid Jagdeschein (hunting license) and a background check that can take as long as a year. Sport shooters must actively participate in an approved sport-shooting program sponsored by a certified shooting club.

With few exceptions, private citizens in Germany are legally barred from carrying guns for self-defense. Applicants must prove that they face special threats, then undergo grueling application and testing procedures. In practice, virtually no one but professional bodyguards and security guards can qualify. Despite the plethora of gun control laws, a black market in illegal firearms thrives.