Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2017-03-14-Speech-2-008-000"
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"en.20170314.3.2-008-000"2
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"Mr President, there has been a common European gun law for over 25 years. It sets out the processes whereby Member States give authorisations to individuals to own, buy and sell firearms. However, certain poorly deactivated ‘salute and acoustic’ firearms were able to be bought and sold without authorisation, and some of these were re-converted and used in the tragic Paris attacks. A cache of similar firearms was discovered in the UK. The European law does need reviewing.
The first set of proposed amendments from the Commission was very poorly drafted. It would have put disproportionate restrictions on many legal owners, it was not supported by an impact assessment, and the proposals had many technical failings. But, over the past 18 months, I have worked with colleagues across this Parliament and many different stakeholders, as well as law enforcement authorities, proof houses and legal experts, in order to protect the interests of legitimate owners whilst also addressing the security issues.
There have been some misleading reports in the press and I would like to set the record straight here. In reality, the Parliament text that we are voting on today contains many significant improvements. Firstly, firearms will not be restricted on the basis of their cosmetic appearance: this is legally unworkable. Military reservists, museums, filmmakers and collectors will be able to continue their ownership, provided their Member State agrees. Member States will continue to organise and protect their own national security, national reserve and public defence services. This meets the needs of countries like Finland and respects the situation in Switzerland.
Technical issues with deactivation standards have been reassessed and holders of genuinely deactivated firearms, such as re-enactors, will be able to continue their ownership. The controversial proposal for mandatory medical and psychological tests has been rejected and, instead, each country will have in place its own system for assessments. There are provisions to support younger owners and for those in rural areas.
There are new measures for clearer marking, for better information sharing between Member States and for safe storage, but we have taken care not to put overly burdensome requirements on small traders or on historical items. There are new stricter controls on certain semi-automatic firearms when they are fitted with high-capacity magazines, and on automatic firearms that are being converted into semi-automatics. However – and this is important – individuals who legally own these today will be able to continue to do so, provided their own Member State agrees. Target shooters will also be able to own these and continue to practice and participate in their sport, again provided their own Member State agrees.
There are new provisions on magazines, which go beyond what Parliament’s committee initially proposed, however the representatives from Europe’s 28 Member States insisted that they should be covered. Today, there are some additional amendments tabled by colleagues. These are not new: they have largely been considered by Parliament already and rejected by the Member States and the Council. If they are adopted, it could risk destabilising the entire agreement. This negotiation has been a long and difficult process. It is unfortunate that the original proposal came with so many failings from the Commission, but the changes that we have now agreed will close the loopholes and make an important contribution to our security, whilst also respecting the rights of legal owners. I expect Member States to use their new powers to support those legal owners and thus avoid disproportionate restrictions.
I would like to thank all my colleagues for their help on this work."@en1
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