ARCHIV - 24.11.2018, Bayern, Greding: Fähnchen mit dem Logo der AfD liegen beim Landesparteitag der AfD Bayern auf einem Tisch. Das Bundesverfassungsgericht veröffentlicht seine Entscheidung über den Eilantrag der AfD-Bundestagsfraktion wegen der Besetzung dreier Ausschussvorsitze. Foto: Daniel Karmann/dpa +++ dpa-Bildfunk +++

Since the law was tightened two years ago, the weapons authorities have had to ask the Office for the Protection of the Constitution whether the person concerned is an extremist, both for new applications and for regular follow-up reviews of gun owners. According to this, extremists are generally no longer considered reliable for carrying weapons. You may not own or purchase any weapons.

“We only implement applicable law. We cannot and do not want to stop at the AfD,” emphasized Thuringia’s Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD). The “Spiegel” had previously reported.

Since March 2021, the Thuringian state association around its chairman Björn Höcke has been classified by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution as an object of observation in the field of right-wing extremism. Maier announced the establishment of a “weapons and extremists” working group at the state administration office, in which all relevant security authorities should participate and which should support the authorities in processing the cases. The goal is not to leave any weapons in the hands of extremists, emphasized the minister.

In recent years, the lower arms authorities in Thuringia have reportedly disarmed numerous extremist gun owners from the so-called Reich Citizens’ Scene. In the meantime, in 72 cases, the procedures for the withdrawal of the weapons license (59 cases) or the rejection of an application for a weapon license (13 cases) have been completed.