Bavarian authorities disarmed 71 people last year because of extremist references. In addition, a ban on gun ownership was imposed in 42 cases, Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) announced on Friday in Munich. According to the information, 64 people can be assigned to the right-wing extremist scene with an affinity for weapons, the “Reich Citizens and Self-Government Movement” and the so-called “delegitimization of the state”.
According to the announcement, the district administrative authorities responsible for weapons law confiscated a total of 296 weapons. In twelve cases, the authorities already had indications of extremist links when they applied for a weapon license. According to the information, one of these applications was rejected, nine applications were withdrawn because of the expected negative decision.
Membership in an extremist organization is sufficient for an application for a gun license to be rejected and a procedure for the withdrawal of a previously granted license to be initiated. Weapons authorities are legally obliged to obtain information from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. “Our goal is to deny extremists of all kinds access to weapons,” said Minister Herrmann. The Bavarian weapons authorities therefore checked every suspected case and exhausted the legal possibilities to achieve this goal.
According to the minister, the Bavarian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution not only provides the weapons authorities with information about people whom it classifies as extremists, but also initial indications that a gun owner is related to extremism.