The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

LIVE Read-out of the College decisions and preparation of the extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council of 20 November

http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/pl ... ef=I112437

Key points to be rolled out across Europe.

Unified deactivation standard and licensing
Tightening of collectors authorisation
Ban of some types of semi automatic firearms
Ban of internet sales of firearms parts (I assume/hope this is pressure bearing only)

With the exception of the semi automatic part which they gave no details of this does rather sound like the standards to which we abide with already here in the UK.

Fking snakes

ovenpaa wrote:LIVE Read-out of the College decisions and preparation of the extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council of 20 November

http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/pl ... ef=I112437

Key points to be rolled out across Europe.

Unified deactivation standard and licensing
Tightening of collectors authorisation
Ban of some types of semi automatic firearms
Ban of internet sales of firearms parts (I assume/hope this is pressure bearing only)

With the exception of the semi automatic part which they gave no details of this does rather sound like the standards to which we abide with already here in the UK.

What does the "collectors" bit mean.

I would make no assumptions, history has shown us that any and all firearms legislation is detrimental to legal firearms owners.

dromia wrote:

ovenpaa wrote:LIVE Read-out of the College decisions and preparation of the extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council of 20 November

http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/pl ... ef=I112437

Key points to be rolled out across Europe.

Unified deactivation standard and licensing
Tightening of collectors authorisation
Ban of some types of semi automatic firearms
Ban of internet sales of firearms parts (I assume/hope this is pressure bearing only)

With the exception of the semi automatic part which they gave no details of this does rather sound like the standards to which we abide with already here in the UK.

What does the "collectors" bit mean.

I would make no assumptions, history has shown us that any and all firearms legislation is detrimental to legal firearms owners.

Probably two or more guns.

"We know in the Paris attack one of the firearms used was made from parts bought legally on the Internet"

Really? I'd be interested in seeing the evidence.

They want to stop private individuals buying firearm parts online.

Didn't have the certificate during the two bans !
What did legal gun owners do when the ban was inforced....did the government buy back such rifle/pistols....is there any loss to the certificate holder ??

The ban on internet sales of parts is interesting. Does it mean no further advertising of firearms and related parts on the internet, or does it mean a total ban on the sale and shipping of all firearm parts or only some parts and where do items such as triggers, magazines and extractors sit in all of this. Then on top of that what about access to internet sales outside of the EU Zone.

I'm going to be sick !

This is the response I just recieved from Catherine Bearder MEP to my email;

Thank you for your email about possible changes to firearms regulation in the European Union (EU).

At the EU level, acquisition and possession of weapons and related matters are regulated by two Directives: (1) Directive 91/477/EEC and (2) Directive 2008/51/EC. These Directives are designed to ensure control of acquisition and possession of weapons, facilitate the flow of firearms in a single market, and transpose into EU law the United Nations Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing and Trafficking of Firearms. Both Directives contain minimum requirements; EU Members are free to impose more stringent rules pertaining to firearms and many have done so.

Under Directive 91/477/EEC firearms are classified into four categories based on their level of dangerousness: (1) prohibited, (2) subject to authorization, (3) subject to declaration, and (4) those that are not subject to requirements. In general, acquisition and possession of firearms is subject to a license and other qualifications that must be met by individuals, such as having a “good cause,” being at least eighteen years of age, and not being a danger to themselves or to society. Directive 2008/51/EC requires EU Members to ensure that any firearm or part thereof is marked and registered prior to entering the market. In addition, it required EU Members, by December 2014, to establish a register of firearms, to which only designated authorities will have access. Dealers are also required to maintain a register of firearms.

The EU has also taken action at the external borders by adopting a Regulation in 2012 to impose controls on export authorizations for firearms. By doing so, the EU transposed into internal law article 10 of the UN Protocol, the Regulation prohibits the export of a firearm to anyone in a third country who is less than eighteen years old.

Therefore, EU rules on firearms and guns are not that strict and leave significant power to Member States. However, the European Commission has recently adopted a package of measures to make it more difficult to acquire firearms in the EU, easier to track legally held firearms, strengthen cooperation between Member States and to ensure that deactivated firearms are rendered irreversibly inoperable.
The package of measures on firearms adopted by the College of Commissioners includes a revision of the Firearms Directive to tighten controls on the acquisition and possession of firearms; a Regulation on common minimum standards for deactivation of firearms. The Commission also announced that it will prepare an action plan against the illegal trafficking of weapons and explosives. Originally presented in the European Security Agenda adopted in April 2015, the proposals have been significantly accelerated in light of recent events.

These proposals have already been approved and heavily scrutinised by MEPs, it is just the implementation that the Commission is now trying to fast track. I hope that this has allayed some of your fears about over-regulation and knee-jerk reactions.

Yours sincerely,

Catherine Bearder MEP

Been having a delve.

Today's council meeting had this to say:

Firearms
3. The Council:
a) welcomes the adoption of the Implementing Regulation on common deactivation standards on 18 November 2015,
b) welcomes the presentation by the Commission on 18 November 2015 of a proposal to revise the current Directive on Firearms, on which work will start without delay,
c) is committed to increasing operational cooperation through Europol under the EU Policy Cycle on serious and organised crime, notably within the Operational Action Plan Firearms. All Member States affected by the problem are invited to join these efforts by the end of 2015,

So what's the presentation of the 18th of November?:

What changes to the Firearms Directive is the Commission proposing today?

On 18 November 2015, the Commission tabled proposals to amend the EU Firearms Directive (Directive 91/477/EEC as amended by Directive 2008/51/EC), the main objectives of which are:

To make it more difficult to acquire firearms, including deactivated firearms

Stricter conditions for the online acquisition of firearms, to avoid the acquisition of firearms, pieces thereof or munition through the Internet;
Stricter rules to ban certain semi-automatic firearms, which move from Category B to Category A and will not, under any circumstances, be allowed to be held by private persons, even if they have been permanently deactivated;
The inclusion of blank-firing weapons (e.g. alarm, signaling, life-saving weapons) in the scope of the Directive, because of their potential to be transformed into firearms.
Further restrictions to the use and circulation of deactivated firearms. National registries should keep records of deactivated firearms and their owners. Under no circumstances will civilians be authorised to own any of the most dangerous firearms falling under Category A (e.g. a Kalashnikov), which is currently possible if they have been deactivated. The enforcement of the ban is a national responsibility, and Member States have all necessary tools at their disposal including the destruction of illegally held deactivated arms;
Collectors, as defined by national law,are currently excluded from the scope of the Directive. The Commission is proposing today to change this, since collectors have been identified as a possible source of traffic of firearms. In the future, collectors will have the possibility to acquire firearms, but subject to the same authorisation/declaration requirements as private persons.
Brokers will be brought into the scope of the Directive, since they provide services similar to those of dealers. Member States will have to introduce regulation covering the registration, licensing and/or authorisation of brokers and dealers operating within their territory.

Better traceability of firearms

Tighter rules on marking of firearms to improve the traceability of weapons by making them harder to erase (e.g. by affixing markings on the receiver), extending the obligation to imported firearms and clarifying on which components the marking should be affixed. Member States will have to keep the data until the destruction of the firearm (i.e. not only for 20 years as currently the case).

Stronger cooperation between Member States

Better exchange of information between Member States, for example on any refusal of authorisation decided by another national authority, interconnection of national registers to ensure full European cooperation, and obligations for dealers and brokers to connect their registers to national registers.

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_ME ... 111_en.htm

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-6110_en.htm

Apologies for long post.