The number of licences for ‘small weapons’ in Germany rose by 21,000 over the month of January, pushing the total number of papers held across the Federal Republic to 301,000. The declaration of small weapon licences comes after a request by a Green Party member of parliament, who criticised German citizens’ decisions to invest in self defence as provocative. Green politician, security committee member, and former policewoman Irene Mihalic acknowledged the change was because of growing insecurity felt by the Germany people, reports Frankfurter Allgemeine, and said: “Imagine that during major event like a carnival, if people acted rashly a weapon might only provoke chaos and violence… when more and more people carry weapons, it is more likely to contribute to escalation than calm situations”. The small arms licences being issued now in such great number only cover firearms such as blank firing pistols, and deterrent self-defence pistols. Rather than firing live shells, the gas guns which are indistinguishable from from their live-firing equivalents use an explosive propellant to fire a concentrated cloud of CS gas at an attacker. Once a licence has been acquired, there is no limit or checks on the acquisitions of these small guns, a “loophole” Ms. Mihalic has