Germany is an interesting country to me, mostly because in my youth it was actually two different nations. East Germany was communist and West Germany wasn’t. I still think about all the spy thrillers that took place between the two nations.

But now it’s a single nation, and it’s one that’s very sensitive to the sins of the past. They have no interest in going down the Nazi rabbit hole again.

I can respect that. I’m sure Poland and the rest of Europe is down with that as well.

However, their latest move might be a step in the wrong direction.

Germany’s top security officials announced a 10-point plan Tuesday to combat far-right extremism in the country that includes disarming about 1,500 suspected extremists and tightening background checks for those wanting to acquire guns.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the far right poses the biggest extremist threat to democracy in Germany and said authorities would seek to tackle the issue through prevention and tough measures.

“We want to destroy far-right extremist networks,” Faeser told reporters in Berlin, saying this included targeting financial flows that benefit such groups, including merchandising businesses, music festivals and martial arts events.

Authorities will work to remove gun licenses from suspected extremists, crack down on incitement spread online through social networks and combat conspiracy theories online.

Now, note that they’re going to remove gun licenses from suspected extremists. In other words, if they think someone is an extremist, no guns for them.

Again, I get why Germany would be sensitive to what they term “far-right extremism,” which is generally a way to say neo-Nazi without saying neo-Nazi. We all know what they mean–yes, even if Nazis were socialists.

However, even if they get it right on every suspected extremist, the problem remains that they’re revoking gun licenses from people based on thinking the wrong things. No, I don’t agree with that kind of thinking, but that’s beside the point. What matters is that these gun permits are going to be yanked because someone doesn’t hold the correct views.

Plus, let’s be honest here. You’re deluding yourself if you think Germany is going to get it right in every single case. They’re not. Some innocent schlub with the wrong first and last name is going to get labeled by the government as a far-right extremist and lose his gun license.

Germany is making a massive mistake. Not only will the people they need to worry about have a way to get firearms outside of the official, legal system, but this kind of thing will also be used by the true problem people to “prove” that they’re right, that the government is only disarming them because it fears their righteous fury or some other such nonsense.

And there are people in this country who want to be able to do this exact same thing to us.

That’s especially troubling when they term anyone who disagrees with certain policies as an extremist. Hell, the average Bearing Arms reader has been described as an extremist simply for believing the Second Amendment means what it says.

Unfortunately for those misguided Americans (and I use the term “Americans” loosely in this case), we have that Second Amendment that protects our right to keep and bear arms, an Amendment that makes no mention of only applying if you have the correct set of opinions.

And I thank God every day we have it.