In Europe, Terrorists Arm Themselves on the Black Market While Populists Champion Self-Defense Rights: New at Reason

Europe is cluing in to the idea of self-defense as a right.

J.D. Tuccille writes:

A rising populist politician challenges federal officials’ schemes to tighten gun laws in response to high-profile mass killings. Making existing laws ever-more draconian is foolish, she says, since “honest citizens are the ones affected, not those who procure weapons via the darknet,”—a direct reference to a recent shooting incident in which the killer illegally acquired a weapon from black market sites via anonymous Tor software.

The better approach, says the politician, is to enable people to carry guns to defend themselves. “We all know how long it takes for police, especially in sparsely populated areas to arrive at the scene of deployments.” She added, “Every law-abiding person should be in the position to protect himself, his family and his friends.”

We’re talking about Orlando, right? Or maybe Charleston?

Nope. The place is Germany. The politician is Frauke Petry, leader of the populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), a Trump-esque party that has muscled its way into eight of Germany’s 16 state parliaments and has many bien-pensant observers dreading the next national election—especially if a string of terrorist attacks and crime linked, partially in reality and partially in public perception, to the recent influx of North African and Middle Eastern refugees continues, sending frightened voters in the party’s direction.

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