An administrative court in Düsseldorf has ruled that members of the antiglobalist, anti-migration Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party cannot hold gun licences and own firearms due to a perceived risk to national security. The court decision comes at a time when violent crime is at an all-time high and AfD members are targeted more than members of other parties by political violence.
According to the court’s verdict, all members of dissident parties under investigation by the country’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution are considered “unreliable” under firearms law and therefore banned from possessing guns. The case was originally brought by two AfD members who claimed that revoking their gun licences was a violation of their constitutional rights.
Gun ownership in Germany is already heavily regulated under strict licensing laws, with exemptions primarily for hunting or competitive shooting.
The ruling by the Düsseldorf court may also impact the ability of AfD-aligned public servants to maintain their roles by affirming that civil servants and soldiers can be penalised “up to and including dismissal from service for supporting a non-banned but anti-constitutional party.”
The two AfD members at the centre of the trial will have to surrender their firearms and ammunition immediately to the state but can appeal the decision to a higher court.
The court decision is just the latest act of harassment against the insurgent populist party. Socialist Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is also pushing ahead with her plans to purge AfD members from the public service.
The AfD is the second-most popular party in German politics thanks to its anti-migration and antiglobalist platform. Despite this, on Monday in Munich, the party lost another legal challenge when it tried to overturn the use of undercover agents against it, and the monitoring of its communications in Bavaria.
The past few months have seen an uptick in violent attacks on AfD representatives by left-wing extremists, including the stabbing of a Mannheim-based candidate in June by left-wing activists. Last week, Antifa and other left-wing extremists teamed up with the local authorities in the city of Essen in an attempt to thwart the party’s annual congress. Two police officers were injured in street battles with the militants.
