[EAA] Statement on EU draft Firearms Directive

It is now known that the firearms the Paris terrorists used were illegal, being either smuggled in from active or past warzones, or illegally reconditioned from insufficiently decommissioned weapons.

Yet, the proposal doesn’t aim at these two sources of illegal firearms.

From an outright ban on semi-automatic rifles “resembling” military assault rifles, the obligatory decommissioning of museum-owned guns, to imposing firearm rules on airsoft replicas, the commission’s proposal only impairs the rights of law-abiding citizens.

• Letter of sale from dealer with "firearm" details
• Photos x 2
• Referees to vouch for your character x 2
• Medical details
• Range/site details including membership number and copy of membership card
• Separate sheet of paper with an explanation as to why you want this "firearm" plus explanations for a mod (silencer) if you choose to get one [assuming that "Playing Airsoft" will be accepted as a Good Reason under the law]
• All secure acomodation requirements (gun safe) in place as there is a box you must tick to say you have them in place.

OzCam wrote: »

Thunder Bs and BFGs will also be caught as they could be defined as "accoustic weapons". Zoxnas and Tornados... who knows?

Just to show how stupidly this draft is written, "accoustic weapons" could also cover rape alarms.

Please don't destroy my sport

A Chara,

I would like to raise my concerns regarding the recent proposal to amend 91/477/EC, more usually known as the Firearms Directive.

Specifically, Proposal COM(2015)750/F1, where on Page 17 it states:

(13) in Annex I to Directive 91/477/EC part II is amended as follows:
(a) point A is amended as follows:
.........
(iii) In Category C, the following points are added:
"5. Alarm and signal weapons, salute and acoustic weapons as well as replicas;"

I am a hobbyist who enjoys 'airsoft' events, in which opposing teams compete in skirmish scenarios. These events require the use of low powered Realistic Imitation Firearms. Under Irish law, these replicas must have a muzzle energy of no more than 1 joule; that level is provably safe, i.e. has been proven to be incapable of causing any more than a trivial injury. This limit applies to all airsoft devices, regardless of appearance or construction. Airsoft events are a commonplace, well-regulated and sometimes physically demanding team activity with many positives for both the individual and society. In the Irish context, it is also a cross-border activity.

The sport of airsoft in Ireland has a seven year history of inclusivity, welcoming players of both genders, differing cultures & languages, various fitness levels and many with mental or physical disabilities. There is also an industry surrounding airsoft which employs many people. It has taken 50 years for me to find a sport which I love, which I'm reasonably good at, and which keeps me physically, mentally and socially fit. The classification of replicas as Category C Firearms would destroy my sport overnight.

If replicas became Category C Firearms it would mean that manufacturers, retailers and owners of these replicas would be subject to all the obligations of the Directive. This disproportionate measure would mean that replicas would become Restricted Firearms in Ireland due to our laws restricting automatic firearms and limiting magazine capacity. This would require all Irish airsofters to install a gun safe and a monitored alarm with GSM backup, in addition to licensing all of their RIFs individually.

At best, some countries may allow some replicas to be serialised, held on a certificate and registered. Other parts of the proposal would simultaneously make internet sales illegal and ban firearms "of military appearance". In essence, many airsoft replicas would be banned and the remaining ones would be heavily restricted or licensed to the point where it would not be worth the hassle of obtaining or owning one.

In Ireland, all airsoft players would overnight become subject to the full suite of Firearms Acts and Statutory Instuments, with all the problems that those regulations pose for both An Garda Siochana and license-holders. The airsoft hobby would soon cease to exist and the industry would collapse. This would have been highlighted if the normal Economic Impact Assessment had not been bypassed in the case of this proposal. Inevitably, many replicas would remain uncontrolled out of ignorance to the drastic changes, turning the owners into criminals.

The vast majority of replicas are NOT convertible to fire real ammunition.
They have the appearance of a firearm on the outside but the type of replicas we use for airsoft do NOT have any components which would be useable in a firearm. They are manufactured with normal-strength plastics, low-temperature metal castings, and parts of soft steel and brass. No justification has been presented in the text of the proposal for the inclusion of replicas in the scope of the directive. Member states have not expressed any major problems relating to public order caused by the use of replicas nor have replicas been implicated in terrorist acts.

In fact, after an extensive study in 2010 (COM(2010)404) the European Commission itself recommended that "replicas, with their various characteristics and purposes, should not be included in the field of application of Directive 91/477/EC (Firearms Directive), especially as those which can be converted to a firearm and therefore treated as one are now covered by Directive 2008/51/EC."

I also believe that the category change will be impossible to implement. Most replicas do not have a serial number. Replicas can be produced from almost any material by any person, for example by carving wood into the shape of a gun. I don't think it would be possible to register and control such a broad category of items. The cost of serialising and registering all replicas would be enormous, as would be the compensation costs for confiscation of those replicas which would become prohibited items. By EU estimates there are hundreds of millions of replicas (of various types, not just airsoft) in Europe. No-one has explained how this could be done, or how much it will cost. The governments of Germany, Czech Republic and Austria have specifically objected to the reclassification of replicas, and I do not believe that An Garda Siochana will find the measure sensible, achievable, enforceable or a good use of their resources.

I support sensible controls, such as ensuring that readily convertible replicas, alarm and signal weapons are classed as firearms. Most of these are firearms already under Irish law anyway. I support robust mandates to ensure standardised irreversible deactivation of firearms across the EU. I support sensible measures to restrict the flow of firearms into Europe from war-torn areas.

What I don't support is heavy handed and ill thought out curtailing of law abiding citizens' pastimes under the guise of preventing terrorism. Especially if the measure proposed will have no effect on the availability of firearms to criminals, and at enormous expense.

And this will be a red-line issue for me at the next election.

Please seek the amendment of the proposal COM(2015)750/F1 so that replicas will not be classified as firearms by being added to Category C (Firearms subject to declaration) of Directive 91/477/EEC.

Is mise le meas,