Germans still owned weapons all during the period 1918 to 1945. The Treaty of Versailles severely curtailed private production and distribution of the 8x57JS, which is why the 8x60 and 8x60S and 7x64 became so popular. It was a public show of peaceful force by the German shooting clubs which cowed the occupying French into their barracks and backed off their seizure of private property. A friend of mine, who was a boy in Berlin during the war, joined his grandfather with his .22 LR Mauser, and his grandfather with his sporting Mauser in 7x57, to fight a slowing retreat against invading Russians in 1945.
Gun control is only about crime to the gullible masses. To politicians, gun control is about making it impossible for the population to do anything but cast meaningless votes, if they even bother to hold elections.
After every terrorist attack, gun control is a quick diversion from government policies which failed to protect:
* Failure to seal the borders and only allow good people in.
* Failure to keep track of bad actors who got into the country.
* Cowardly refusal to discuss the cultures and ideologies which advocate violence and sedition.
The weapons in these attacks usually are smuggled in by Islamic radicals.
In this latest Munich case, the politicians want to play down the Iranian background, and talk about the killer's depression, his psychiatric problems, his anger over being bullied, guns and explosives pouring across a porous, borderless EU.
Germany recently raided 30 mosques and found weapons caches in them, and traces of explosives, indicating bomb manufacture on the premises.
Germany: Weapons Cache Near Mosque Signals ... - express.co.uk
France recently raided 3 mosques and found large weapons caches.
www.liveleak.com/view?i=c86_1449588836