Members and supporters of the German party “Alternative for Germany“ (AfD) can now be completely legally deprived of the right to own weapons.
This became clear after key decisions by the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) of the state of Saxony-Anhalt in Magdeburg, taken just hours before the current moment. The magistrates finally rejected the appeals of three activists whose permits were revoked by the local police.
The court's assessment: Risks are minimized in advance
According to the court's decision, in order to protect public security, the German state does not need to wait for a crime with a weapon to be committed. The weapons authorities in Germany now have a solid legal basis to revoke the documents for owning and carrying weapons from sympathizers of the party structure.
The current German Weapons Act (Waffengesetz) clearly stipulates that anyone who supports an organization with unconstitutional aspirations is classified as "unreliable". Due to the official surveillance of the AfD by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, this provision automatically applies to both rank-and-file party members and their active supporters.
What are the arguments against the “Alternative for Germany“?
The magistrates point out that when assessing whether a political force threatens the constitutional order, its overall message is taken into account. The official reasons emphasize:
- Violation of human dignity: Positions that portray people of foreign origin or Muslims as inferior threaten democratic principles.
- Attack on statehood: The systematic smearing of state institutions goes beyond the limits of permissible political criticism.
The plaintiffs attempted to invoke the “party privileged status“ enshrined in the German Basic Law, arguing that their weapons could not be taken away until the party was officially banned by the Federal Constitutional Court. However, the Magdeburg court categorically rejected this argument, adding that security regulations apply equally to all citizens.