A German court has effectively banned all members of the Alternative for Germany (AFD) party from owning firearms.
The AFD, like Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party in France, is a right-wing populist party that has become increasingly popular despite an intensive campaign of repression by Germany’s left-wing government. BanCompletely vilifying AFD and criminalizing it.
The party Established It was founded in 2013 by free-market economists eager for greater German sovereignty and outraged by the European Union’s bailout of Greece and other debtor countries. Over time, the AFD has drawn the ire of the left for its members’ criticism of mass immigration, open borders, gender ideology, climate alarmism, Islamization, and Europe’s tilt toward continental post-nationalism.
AFD is 2017 Manifesto“We believe in direct democracy, the separation of powers, the rule of law, the social market economy, subsidiarity, federalism, family values and German cultural heritage.”
Clearly, something about the party has begun to resonate with Germans in recent years: After all, the AFD won six seats and came in second in last month’s European Parliament elections with 15.9% of the national vote, handily beating German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats. according to The party’s membership has also increased by 60% since January 2023, according to Reuters.
German powers have been trying to nullify the AFD’s electoral victory.
Following the AFD’s strong showing in last month’s elections, the Bavarian court Domination Domestic intelligence agencies may monitor the party’s local units as suspected extremist groups. In some German states, such as Saxony and Thuringia, the party has already Classified as a “right-wing extremist” group.
Last week, left-wing activists successfully petitioned the AFD to break up the bank. report The AFD’s donation account was suspended and the Berlin People’s Bank confirmed that it had received the left-wing petition.
Not only will AFD find it harder to raise funds, it will be unable to acquire firearms to defend itself against brutal attacks like those suffered by AFD politicians in early June.
“When you belong to a party that is suspected of unconstitutional conduct, you are generally considered to be untrustworthy.”
Chamber 22 of the Düsseldorf Administrative Court ruled on July 1 that AFD membership denies German citizens the right to own firearms, a ruling that contradicts a ruling by another regional court. Decision Last year it was shown that allegations against members of a political party alone do not justify the revocation of a member’s firearms licence.
According to the English translation: Court ReleaseThe Senate found that “membership of an allegedly unconstitutional political party is generally presumed to be unreliable under the strict standards of applicable gun control law, even if that political party has not been banned by the Federal Constitutional Court for unconstitutionality.”
The case involved a married couple connected to the AFD whose combined permits to possess 224 firearms were revoked and the couple were subsequently ordered to surrender or destroy the firearms and associated parts and ammunition.
The administrative court argued that the ruling did not violate Article 21 of the German Constitution. Basic LawThe law allows for the free formation of political parties, but does not appear to make any provisions to prevent undesirable parties from being penalized.
The administrative court Reportedly The ruling allowed the couple to appeal to the Higher Administrative Court in Münster.
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