Merkel urges stricter gun checks after shooting

His father, a member of a shooting club, had 15 guns at home. Fourteen of those were locked in a gun closet as required by law but the Beretta was in the bedroom, officials said.

Germany toughened gun laws in 2002 after a 19-year-old shot dead 16 people and himself at a high school in east Germany.

Schaeuble was sceptical on Sunday about proposals by some politicians that guns should only be stored at shooting clubs.

"We already have one of the strictest weapons laws in the world," he said on the sidelines of a meeting in Berlin with interior ministers from the European Union's six largest states. "We now have to check whether rules were adhered to in this case."

Schaeuble also discussed the issue of youth violence with his counterparts from Britain, France, Italy, Poland and Spain, who were joined by new U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. He said youth crime should be on the agenda EU-wide.

The meeting to also discuss the fight against crime and terrorism, was not expected to yield concrete measures.

Merkel said she was also considering what could be done to limit access to violent video games, but did not give details.

"The lesson is that we must be attentive to all young people -- that's true for parents and educators," Merkel said. "We must do all to prevent children from having access to weapons and from them having to face too much violence."

Neighbours and classmates had described Kretschmer as a loner with a fondness for violent computer games.