The EU wants your .22 semi-auto: Finland leaks gun ban law details

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European Union bureaucrats want to ban all semi-automatic rifles including .22s, have a total ban on civilians owning full auto firearms and impose a partial ban on internet firearm sales, according to the Finnish government.

Campaign group Firearms United, an association of EU recreational shooters, found the original Finnish report and ran it through Google Translate before posting the result on their Facebook page. The report was bylined to Maria Manner in the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper and the original is online here.

Finnish Interior Ministry’s data show that there are plans to ban‬ at least a series of firearms for private individuals, as well as changes in the availability and ecommerce for semi-automatic weapons.

“According to our records the biggest changes include a ban on a series of firearms and the transfer of semi-automatic weapons in the prohibited category, which resemble military weapons. It is not exactly known yet what would fall into this category,” said Police Inspector Seppo Sivula the Ministry of Interior Police Department.

The prohibition of a whole series of firearms would also include deactivated weapons owned by collectors. In addition, the Commission will consider to ban semi-automatic versions of assault rifles and submachine guns.

The report said the Finnish government opposes the EU bans because they would affect the ability of the country’s reservists to train for sporting competitions. It appears that some Finnish competitions are based around competitors using their service-issue rifles. In addition, the paper highlighted that any semi-auto ban would severely damage IPSC competition disciplines.

UK Shooting News reported that unelected EU bureaucrats had formally begun the process of rewriting the Firearms Directive, a diktat that all EU member countries must adopt through passing new national laws. In the UK such laws are typically brought onto the statute book through Statutory Instruments, which receive little or no Parliamentary debate time.

However, the EU rewrite comes as the Law Commission is still mulling over its response to the public consultation on the commission’s own proposals to update Britain’s firearms laws.

New bans are, it goes almost without saying, unnecessary, certainly in the British context of the strictest functional firearms licensing laws in the world.

11 thoughts on “The EU wants your .22 semi-auto: Finland leaks gun ban law details”

  2. Steven Wolf

    So in the Uk we are basically screwed since when the Eu will eventually publish the guidelines which all EU countries will have to follow, I bet the likes of ACPO would have an orgasm since it is these kind of laws that they are trying to make the UK government adopt, and then they will have a good reason if those people form Europe are doing it. However it might meet more resistance in places like France, Czech Republic, Italy, I can’t see them laying down to what is basically a destruction of their multi million pound business.

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  11. Cameron Smith

    The British Government took our S.L.Rs in 1987, following Hungerford, they then took our Pistols in 1996 after Dunblane,both knee jerk reactions, and now they will take what Little is left under this proposed EU Legislation, this will have no effect on Terrorists or criminal use of firearms,we already have the most Draconian Firearms Legislation in the world,all this will do is destroy our sport and the industry that surrounds it, we must fight this, all shooters should unite Shotgun/Rifle/Rim fire/Air rifle and stop this injustice in its tracks, we cannot trust our Prime Minister to do the honest and right thing, and support shooters,and the Labour Party has shown its colors,
    Do not be complacent, and leave it to others, sign the Petition NOW.

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