Faced with mounting terrorist attacks and waves of refugee immigration and violence, European citizens from Austria and Germany to Finland and England are fueling a boom in sales of firearms and other self-defense products, overwhelming authorities with requests for new licenses and gun registrations, and resisting moves by the European Union to impose ever-more-restrictive gun controls on law-abiding people.
As NRA-ILA details in this excellent retrospective, Austrians are clearing store shelves of shotguns, while demanding a fivefold increase in pistol registration courses. In Germany, sales of defensive sprays are up sevenfold, and Google searches for gun licenses are up 1,000 percent.
Meanwhile, as the European Union contemplates stronger gun controls including civilian bans on semi-automatic firearms, resistance is hardening: Shooters’ groups in England and Germany are opposing the proposals, and confidential reports indicate the German, Austrian, Czech and Finnish governments are “keen to put the brakes on the EU’s plans.” These are encouraging developments, indeed.
