New EU directive on firearms

les45

If you are coming to hunt you pay the game licence , and the EFP is good for entry to compete in formal / sanctioned matches . The EFP does not permit free travel into a state to practice or compete in Club type match , I stand to be corrected on this and perhaps somebody could clarify !

John

Sparks

That's not how it works at present John. Right now, if you're coming to Ireland with a firearm, whether to hunt or compete, you have to get a full Irish licence to do so (and with the three-year licences, you'd have to get a three-year licence), even if you're only here for a weekend. The new directive would originally have ended this; now it appears that it can be squeezed around if the DoJ wished, but it also appears we could lobby for that not to happen and for the EFP to act as the only required document for someone coming in to compete from abroad.

newby.204

would this mean that it would be less hassle to purchase firearms abroad and bring them home??

Sparks

Hmmm. Not hugely, I imagine.

les45

Mark , my point was and as I usual I rushed the post ,was that in a ideal world a EFT would be all that it is needed for target shooters to enter the state to compete and a Game Licence to shoot game . But that would be a ideal World !!!:(:(:(

jOHN

Sparks

Got round to checking up on this again today. The council have voted on the directive, it's been passed and it has to go into Irish legislation within two years.

From the EU press release:

The measures will align the pre-existing directive 91/477 on firearms with the so-called “United Nations Firearms Protocol” to which the Community acceded in 2001, opening the way towards its ratification. The Directive will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal. Member States will need to adapt their relevant national legislation within two years following this publication. The approval of the Member States follows a positive vote in the European Parliament last year.

Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen responsible for enterprise and industry policy said: “I welcome the agreement in the Council, as we will soon be able to ensure greater security in the trade of firearms. Citizens will be better protected against uncontrolled circulation of firearms, by beefing up our tracing systems and requirements, notably as regards minors.”

The directive aims to complete the existing Directive 91/477/EC which was an accompanying measure of the Internal Market. The revised Directive will create a balance between a certain freedom of movement for civil firearms within the EU and the need to control and trace their circulation. Its main elements are as follows:

* The obligation to mark firearms at the time of manufacture with references to identification particulars is reinforced;
* It is obligatory to mark firearms when they are transferred from government stocks to permanent civil use;
* Each Member State has to set up a computerized data filing system, centralized or decentralized, which will maintain data on firearms for a minimum of twenty years;
* The measures also applies to converted firearms, which are explicitly assimilated to firearms;
* The conditions of use of firearms by persons less than 18 years old will be strictly controlled and the purchase of firearms by minors is forbidden;
* The proper use and recognition of the European Firearms Pass inside the EU will be guaranteed;
* The Commission will carry out studies on firearms replicas, and on possible simplification of measures on firearms classification of firearms, as well as on guidelines on deactivation of firearms.

(I've highlighted the bit of interest)

From the adopted text, the juicy bits:

The European Firearms Pass functions in a satisfactory way in the main and should be regarded as the main document needed by hunters and marksmen to transfer a firearm to another Member State. Member States may not make the acceptance of the European firearms pass conditional upon the payment of any fee or charge.

The European firearms pass is a document which is issued on request by the authorities of a Member State to a person lawfully entering into possession of and using a firearm. It shall be valid for a maximum period of five years. The period of validity may be extended. It shall contain the information set out in Annex II. The European firearms pass is a non-transferable document, on which shall be entered the firearm or firearms possessed and used by the holder of the pass. The pass must always be in the possession of the person using the firearm. Changes in the possession or characteristics of the firearms shall be indicated on the pass, as well as the loss or theft of the firearm.