More than 1,000 suspected right-wing extremists in Germany were known to hold a firearms permit at the end of 2022, according to information from the government.

A total of 1,051 suspected right-wing extremists, some 400 far-right Reichsbürger (Reich Citizens) and others who rejected the legitimacy of the German state were known to hold at least one gun licence.

This is according to an answer by the government to a question from the hard-left Die Linke (The Left) party reported on Friday.

The Reich Citizens movement is a loose association of people who do not recognise the state and wish to overthrow the government.

The domestic intelligence service estimated that around 23,000 people across Germany were part of the scene in 2022.

In 2022, 181 suspected right-wing extremists had their firearms permits revoked or returned them after pressure from the authorities.

The information has already been published by the Bundestag.

Final figures for 2023 have yet to be made available.

Interior minister Nancy Faeser presented an internal draft for the tightening of the gun laws in January 2024, the year following New Year’s Eve riots and the uncovered coup plans of the Reich Citizens group.

The Free Democratic Party (FDP), junior partner in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left coalition, has so far rejected any changes to gun laws and instead favours better enforcement of the current law.

For the end of 2021, the government had named 1,561 right-wing extremists, some 500 Reich Citizens and other proponents of self-government with weapons licences. 

(dpa/NAN)