The weapons authorities in Saxony-Anhalt are supposed to check the reliability of gun owners who are also AfD members. There is an order from the state administration office, a spokeswoman for the state administration office said at the request of the dpa news agency. The “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung” had previously reported.
That order was intended to inform the weapons authorities about the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution's classification of the AfD regional association as "certainly right-wing extremist." She should also inform the weapons authorities that the reliability under weapons law must therefore be checked and, if necessary, further measures taken, said the spokeswoman.
According to the Weapons Act, the “required level of reliability” is one of the requirements that people must meet in order to obtain permission to own weapons.
AfD speaks of a “politically motivated measure”
The check on the reliability of AfD members is identical to the check in other cases, it said. Among other things, it includes an extract from the Federal Central Register, a query from the responsible state Office for the Protection of the Constitution and a query from the Central Public Prosecutor's Office Proceedings Register. The state administration office currently does not have any information about how many people are affected by the exams, said the spokeswoman.
The AfD state chairman Martin Reichardt called the action a “politically motivated measure” that was unacceptable. Membership in an opposition party should not be a reason for restricting civil rights. "The AfD will check to what extent the rule of law is still intact and will use all legal and parliamentary means to protect the rights of its members."
Last year, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the AfD state association in Saxony-Anhalt as a confirmed right-wing extremist effort.
svs/dpa