German Police Used Only 85 Bullets Against People in 2011

[Gravitycollapse]

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/05/german-police-used-only-85-bullets-against-people-2011/52162/

According to Germany's Der Spiegel, German police shot only 85 bullets in all of 2011, a stark reminder that not every country is as gun-crazy as the U.S. of A. As Boing Boing translates, most of those shots weren't even aimed anyone: "49 warning shots, 36 shots on suspects. 15 persons were injured, 6 were killed."

Technically, about 9,000 more shots were fired at sick and dangerous animals. (Germany, why do you kill your animals?) But since we couldn't watch the end of Old Yeller, we'll look the other way on those humanitarian shootings.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., where the population is little less than four times the size of Germany's, well, we can get to 85 in just one sitting, thank you very much. 84 shots fired at one murder suspect in Harlem, another 90 shot at one fleeing unarmed man in Los Angeles. And that was just April. So we bring you Germany's shot total in case you forgot about America shoots itself in the foot with its manic love of guns.

[malaise]

1. No wonder they're bugging Merkel's phone

[Blue_Tires]

2. They also have pretty cool police cars (Toyota Prius)

Germany has a pretty upright sense of rules and law...It was the first place I'd ever been to where people *NEVER* ever jaywalked (even on a completely empty street in the middle of the night)

People who I did see jaywalk were clearly tourists...

[winter is coming]

3. U.S. police react: "They only shot two people?"

[denverbill]

4. Well, welcome to gun-nut land.

I wonder how many bullets were fired at the German police? Frankly, I doubt the German police encounter that many gun-toting nuts.

Not that American police couldn't do better even with the gun-nuts, but when you live in a land chock-full-o-gun-nuts, you have a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later.