Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - For the North Rhine-Westphalian police, a total of around 28.6 million euros have been budgeted for ammunition in the budgets for the years 2018 to 2023. So far, almost 49 million shots of the standard "Action 4" ammunition have been procured. This emerges from a response published on Wednesday by NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) to an AfD request. No further ammunition had been procured for the current year.
In view of the news about a poor supply situation in the Bundeswehr, AfD MPs Hartmut Beucker and Markus Wagner had expressed concern that state authorities might not have enough ammunition. Reul denied that.
"Police authorities and correctional facilities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia keep service weapons and the appropriate ammunition available to the extent required to fulfill the tasks assigned to them by law," he replied. "The stock is sufficient for the fulfillment of the task and this is always guaranteed."
The central armory of the NRW judiciary procures ammunition for practice and operational purposes for all correctional facilities in the state. Since 2018, more than 3.7 million rounds of ammunition have been procured for around 1.7 million euros.
The safe handling of service weapons requires a high level of regular training, Reul explained. "In the area of prisons, the vast majority of ammunition is procured for training purposes. In addition, a reserve for transport and prison security is kept in the prison facilities." As a result of the Ukraine war, there were no adjustments to ammunition procurement and storage.
According to the minister, the police in North Rhine-Westphalia currently have around 51,000 pistols, each with two magazines, and 7,616 submachine guns, each with four magazines. According to this, 1277 weapons with magazines are kept in prison.
