Mauterndorf rampage

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The rampage in Mauterndorf took place on November 20, 1997 in the market town of Mauterndorf in the Austrian state of Salzburg . The 36-year-old mechanic Johann Gautsch (* 1961 ; † November 21, 1997 ) shot six people and then judged himself. In the letters he left behind, he is said to have quoted " demons " that caused him to commit the deeds. In Austria a discussion about the weapons law started.

Johann Gautsch left his house on November 20, 1997 with a Walther PPK 7.65 and a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum and shot his 39-year-old neighbor Harald Moser, his 40-year-old partner Gabrielle Artner and their three-year-old daughter Elisabeth. He is said to have overlooked the one-year-old daughter Magdalena. He then shot the 55-year-old vice mayor and director of the Mariapfarr secondary school, Wernfried Gappmayer, the 19-year-old soldier Stefan Bader and his 22-year-old friend Irene Schitter in their apartments when they unsuspectingly opened the door for the perpetrator. The next morning, when he was already being searched for, Gautsch killed himself with a head shot. During the subsequent search of his apartment, four more pistols, five rifles, ten kilograms of black powder and 1,000 rounds of ammunition were seized.

The 36-year-old's rampage sparked a discussion about gun laws in Austria. The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), the Greens and the Liberal Forum called for a tightening of the weapons law. A change was also discussed in the government, but there were different views between the coalition partners. The SPÖ wanted to tighten the gun law even more, the then Chancellor Viktor Klima even forbid gun ownership. Far-reaching plans were developed to tighten the Weapons Act 96, which had just come into force, right up to the expropriation of individual groups of legal arms owners . A member of the National Council advocated the introduction of a weapons tax with the declared aim of making weapons more expensive to the point of "voluntary" abandonment. This was supported by a media campaign. The Austrian People's Party was against it: Vice Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel said Austria already had one of the toughest gun laws in Europe . Ultimately, the gun law remained untouched.

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