Germany to weigh stricter gun laws due to suspect coup plot
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Within the span of only one year, the Reichsbuerger movement increased by 2,000 to 23,000 new recruits.
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An suspect, second right, is escorted from a police helicopter by police officers after the arrival for a questioning at the federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe, Germany, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022 (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Germany, a country already well-known for having strict gun laws, is planning to tighten its gun laws over the recent suspected coup led by a far-right group on December 7, according to statements delivered by the German minister of interior in an interview on Sunday.
Last week, German authorities arrested 25 people who were planning to storm the Bundestag, kidnap MPs, and reestablish the German monarchy to be governed by Heinrich XIII, Prince of Reuss, a 71-year-old German who has been preparing for the uprising since November 2021.
The great majority were found to be members of the far-right "Reichsbuerger" (Citizens of the Reich), a political movement that denies the legitimacy of the German republic.
According to the Minister of Interior, Nancy Faeser, that particular far-right movement increased by 2,000 to 23,000 in the past year alone.
"These are not harmless crazy people but suspected terrorists who are now sitting in pre-trial detention," Faeser was quoted as saying by the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
Faeser stressed that these individuals had a good knowledge of how to use weapons and had attempted to recruit former and current army members and stockpile weapons.
She called no authorities to exert "maximum pressure" to remove weapons, adding that government plans are underway to tighten gun laws.
The government had confiscated an estimated 1,000 guns from Reichsbuerger members prior to the raids.
Another 500 are still believed to be holding gun licenses.
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