German state minister resigns over gun purchase

A controversial gun purchase prompted the resignation of the interior minister of the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Tuesday.

The minister, Lorenz Caffier, bought a hunting pistol from the arms dealer in 2018. It later came to light that the dealer was a member of the Nordkreuz (Northern Cross) group, an extreme-right survivalist network made up of people stockpiling for the collapse of the German state.

"I bought a firearm from someone whom I should not have bought it from, in hindsight. Although it was not the purchase that was a mistake, but how I handled it. I apologize for that," Caffier said in a statement.

The arms dealer's affiliation with the group only came to light in 2019, but the dealer's name was already known to authorities in 2017. The name came to light during the questioning of a witness associated with the Nordkreuz Group, and the information was then forwarded to authorities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Read more: Groups stand up to far-right in eastern Germany

As the state interior minister, Caffier oversaw the police and intelligence agencies conducting an investigation into the extreme-right group. 

In his statement Tuesday, Caffier flatly denied any links to right-wing extremists and condemned "unrestrained reporting" into the case. He said he was resigning to "protect my family, the people around me and my staff" and to "avert damage from the government."

Who is Lorenz Caffier?

Caffier, 65, had served as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania interior minister for 14 years and was the oldest sitting politician in that position. He also served as the leader of the center-right CDU party in the northeastern German state from 2009 to 2017.

He had also played a key role in a proposed ban of the extreme-right NPD party, a measure that was not implemented.

dv/dj (AP, dpa)