Germany to weigh stricter gun laws after suspected coup plot

Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told German newspaper Bild am Sontag on Sunday that the government had plans to tighten its gun laws, in response to the discovery of a suspected far-right plot to violently overthrow the state. 

The plot was uncovered in the past days, with conspirators planning to install Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss as national leader. 

Authorities have listed more than 50 suspects in the anti-government plot, which was connected to the Reichsbürger movement. 

The group reject the German legal and political system, with most of its members propagating the re-establishment of the German empire founded in 1871.  

"We need all authorities to exert maximum pressure" to remove their weapons, Faeser was quoted as saying, which was why the government would "shortly further tighten gun laws." 

Although citizens in Germany can own guns, the country has some of the strictest gun laws in Europe. Private possession of firearms is rare.

Authorities had already confiscated weapons from more than 1,000 Reichsbürger members before the raids, but another 500 are still believed to hold gun licenses. 

Reichsbürger on the rise 

Minister Faeser said, citing government figures, that the number of people joining the extremist group had risen. 

German domestic intelligence agencies estimate the number of members at around 23,000, which Faeser said represented an increase of 9.5% compared with last year. 

"These are not harmless crazy people but suspected terrorists who are now sitting in pre-trial detention," Faeser was quoted as saying. 

Some 10% of the Reichsbürger have been regarded as potentially violent, with German police pinning some 239 violent crimes to its members over the course of last year. 

Reichsbürger adherents have also worked to recruit current and former army members and have stockpiled weapons. 

jcg/fb (Reuters, dpa) 

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