According to a report by “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland,” the Federal Ministry of the Interior confirmed that there have been 33 disciplinary proceedings over the past five years involving missing official firearms within federal police authorities. Specifically, 30 of these cases involved the Federal Police, while three concerned the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
However, the Ministry has refused to publicly release detailed information regarding where and how many weapons have gone missing. The Ministry stated that releasing such details is not permissible “for reasons of public good,” arguing that statistics, regional allocations, and specific reasons for loss could draw conclusions about the operational readiness and logistics of security agencies, thereby endangering their ability to perform their tasks if publicized. Furthermore, the Ministry asserted that the need for confidentiality to protect the security of the Federal Republic of Germany outweighs the parliament’s right to demand information as protected by the Basic Law.
The Green Party views this refusal as being pretextual and has filed a formal complaint. Irene Mihalic, the party’s parliamentary spokesperson, informed Parliamentary State Secretary Christoph de Vries (CDU) that the confidential response only revealed that the Ministry could not specify how many weapons security agencies possess or where they were stored. She added that the response offered no insight into how security gaps for weapon losses and theft might be exploited by these agencies. Mihalic stressed that there is significant public interest in knowing what happens to the guns and ammunition handled by the Federal Police, BKA, and Customs Investigation Services, and to what extent losses and thefts occur, subsequently requesting that the response be made public.
Marcel Emmerich, the Greens’ domestic policy spokesman, told RND that missing or stolen police weapons constitute a lethal threat. He argued that the classification as confidential functions as an attempt at a cover-up. “It cannot be acceptable for guns and ammunition to disappear while the Interior Ministry keeps the public in the dark,” Emmerich stated. “It is not the knowledge of the situation, but the missing weapons themselves that pose a security risk.”
