Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) proposed on Tuesday to generally ban the carrying of weapons outside of living quarters. “That’s a good suggestion,” Rauch reacted in the press foyer on Wednesday, but at the same time also called for accompanying measures.
Vienna’s mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) also welcomed Karner’s initiative. The mayor emphasized in a conversation with media representatives on the sidelines of the Vienna SPÖ club meeting in Frauenkirchen that he had already proposed this for the whole of Vienna in 2019. “More weapons do not mean more security, but rather more insecurity,” said Ludwig. A federal regulation would make sense here. Currently there is only the possibility of imposing such a ban in certain places. In Vienna this is currently available at the Praterstern.
The provisions would have to be clearly drawn up. So, for example, which knives will be affected, Ludwig emphasized and advocated exceptions for hunters or for people who carry a weapon with them for professional reasons. He also advocated a redefinition or tightening of the gun law. Ludwig recommended a stricter examination of whether the person in question is suitable.
“It is naive to believe that a general ban on weapons in public spaces can solve even one of the many catastrophic security problems,” said FPÖ security spokesman Hannes Amesbauer. According to the politician, it is a usual “knee-jerk reaction”: “Whenever there is a lot of public discussion about crimes and the security situation in Austria, there is a call for strict gun laws.” Crime cannot be combated with further tightening measures. “The disarmament of law-abiding, blameless citizens is an unnecessary criminalization of gun owners.”
The ÖVP’s demand, which was raised again at the weekend that NGOs should make their sources of funding more transparent, was met with little enthusiasm from the Greens. “In my understanding, an NGO is a non-governmental organization with a certain independence from the government,” said Rauch. Stricter transparency rules are not part of the government program and there are no plans to implement them. “I would think that would be difficult,” he said.
ÖVP club chairman August Wöginger emphasized that it was a proposal and that there were different positions on it in the government. The “Kurier” reported on Sunday that the ÖVP was still sticking to its demand that NGOs and parties should disclose their money flows. NGO representatives oppose the proposal. Stefan Wallner, managing director of the Alliance for Non-Profits, warned on Wednesday in the “Ö1” morning journal that this could put NGOs under pressure.