Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. I'm your host, Jason Palmer. Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

It's already relatively easy to get a gun in America, but it's even easier to get a kit to build your own, without the trouble of a background check or the traceability of a serial number. We look into the push to clamp down on these ghost guns. And there was a time that bands could prove their countercultural credentials by picking a controversial name.

As sensibilities and sensitivities have changed, though, some groups are now choosing to rebrand.

But first... It's now less than a month until Germany's elections,

and the situation is looking ever more uncertain.

The only sure thing is that the government will again be a coalition of parties. During the campaign's

first televised debate on Sunday, three leading candidates sparred. Armand Lashett, the Chancellor

candidate from Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union or CDU party, went after Olaf Schultz,

the candidate from the SPD, the Social Democrats,

about his cozying up to another party, D'Linka, way on the far left.

Mr. Schultz batted it away with characteristic pragmatism.

His SPD party has been in a coalition government with Mrs. Merkel's

CDU since 2013.

We have with the CDU co-liered, as all the other people were back-loughed. I think that was good,

also now by the becapting of the third highest polling Green Party, said that coalition

considerations would come down to a stance

on the climate and that the CDU simply wasn't green enough.

The question of climate-schult, the next government must the weichen for climate neutrality

in our land,

Angela Merkel is the first post-war chancellor not to stand for re-election, but her party

was seen as certain to be the big

partner in a new government, that is, until very recently.

...