Neo-Nazi arrested for allegedly lying on gun permit application

Associated Press/November 5, 1999

Lincoln, Neb. -- An American neo-Nazi who spent four years in European prisons for spreading anti-Semitic and racist literature has been arrested on charges he illegally tried to get a gun permit.

Gary Lauck surrendered to Lincoln police Thursday and was later released on bond.

An arrest warrant had been issued Tuesday for Lauck, 46, accusing him of lying on a June handgun permit application. Lauck marked "no'' on his application to a question that asked if he had ever been convicted of a crime punishable by one year in prison.

In 1995, Lauck was arrested during a trip to Denmark, and later was extradited to Germany and convicted of inciting racial hatred and distributing pro-Hitler and anti-Jewish propaganda in violation of the German Constitution. He spent about four years in six different European prisons, and was deported by Germany earlier this year. He has argued in court that his German conviction could not be held against him in seeking a gun permit because in the United States, the material he disseminated would have been protected by his right to free speech. The faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted.