I thought America had this as well, after Oklahoma City. If you bought too much ammonium nitrate and you weren't on some kind of registry (as a farmer or other person who'd buy a large volume of the stuff), you'd raise an alarm bell somewhere.

If they really wanted to arrest people for 'pre crime' of that nature, they should lift the ban on buying tons of Sudafed. That way, they could get their meth addicts and I could get my favorite cold/allergy med in quantities that didn't necessitate a bi-weekly visit to Walgreen's during hay fever season.

Ammonium nitrate really ought to only be available with a license. It's too good of a fertilizer to stop using it, but it's also too dangerous to be freely available. Some sort of permitting system would sort this problem out before it begins.

If the USA puts limits on ammonium nitrate use before they put limits on gun ownership I will possible have a seizure from how amused i'd be.

I hope you have a bite stick handy.
The U.S. Finally Starts Regulating Sales Of Ammonium Nitrate (from 2011)

That's just... just so beautiful. They should have brought a poet.

Ammonium nitrate isn't protected by the second amendment.

But isn't it the work of a police to also prevent crime?

wow, thanks for the edit-button!!!

...so, at least here in Finland, the police are also tasked with the prevention of crime, and that unfortunately does include them _policing_ the behaviour, i.e. they suggest that "yeah, you have those fire-building tools, so better keep them unlit."

Also, it is also punishable to plan a crime, if I'm not mistaken. ALSO, if you try to get someone to commit crime, it is also punishable: if the crime is successful, you are punished as you would be the actual criminal committing the crime. If the crime is not successful, you are punished to a lesser degree. If the crime is not committed, it can be viewed as a perjury.

I don't see what the big deal is. If your intentions are ok, then no harm done, even if the cops do pay a visit.

After what happened in Cologne, I'd imagine it's getting worse over there in Germany, no?

You don't really need bombs to harrass women.

That aside, the currently discussed measures go less into keeping possible perpetrators on a tighter leash but preparing all the necessary laws and agreements to get caught perpetrators out of the country more efficiently than before. Get sentenced to any kind of prison term of at least a year, even if it's on probation? GTFO - if we are certain we know where you're coming from, and if we have managed to convince your home country to take you back, and if we believe your home country won't kill you when you return. In order to do this, we're talking to Morocco and Algeria right now and try to strike some deal to that extent with them.

Yup, seriously, that's what we're currently discussing to enforce.

Situation right now: Unless you're sentenced to at least two years prison without probation, you're staying in Germany until we have decided whether to accept your request for asylum or not. If you've shown that you're willing to commit crimes, we're probably going to deny that request, but we're not going to just stop processing your case on account of you getting all criminal here. No matter how we decide, we're never going to send you home into a warzone, or if your home country would kill you upon return, and if we're not certain we know where you're coming from, you're not getting sent anywhere. (If you don't tell us where you came from, of course, chances are we won't let you into the country in the first place, but if you successfully lie to us upon arrival, well, you got us.

Are we nice, or what?