Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Court: Ex-NPD member may not own a weapon

Schwerin (dpa / mv) - A former NPD member who is still active in right-wing extremist connections is not allowed to carry a weapon.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Court: Ex-NPD member may not own a weapon

Schwerin (dpa / mv) - A former NPD member who is still active in right-wing extremist connections is not allowed to carry a weapon. According to a Tuesday announcement, the Administrative Court in Schwerin dismissed three lawsuits filed by a man who wanted his hunting license and gun permits back.

According to a statement, the court ruled that he was unreliable in terms of weapons law. He was a member of the NPD until January 1, 2015 and has since been involved in a variety of right-wing extremist connections, some in prominent positions. The man did not distance himself from the ideas of the NPD and their leaders. The man had sat, among other things, for the right-wing extremist NPD in the district council of Northwest Mecklenburg, according to the court. The party is not banned.

The plaintiff held a hunting license and owned weapons and ammunition that required a permit. He had the permits for it. According to the court, however, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution then sent information to the district, according to which the man continued to be a member of a right-wing extremist village community and was politically active in the same way as former party members. The district then banned the man from owning and purchasing weapons and ammunition, declared his hunting license invalid and demanded that his weapons be surrendered.

The man sued on the grounds that he had never been in conflict with the law and had left the NPD. The court dismissed the lawsuits. A former NPD functionary, who was active in a responsible position for the party, is still considered unreliable under weapons law even after a period of five years after resigning from the office if he does not distance himself from right-wing extremism, the reasoning said. The plaintiff did not do this.

The judgments are not yet final. Those involved can submit an application for approval of the appeal to the Higher Administrative Court of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, as it was said.