The European Union’s draft proposals for amendments to its Firearms Directive will be published tomorrow as a response to the Paris mass murders, according to watchdog group Firearms United.
UPDATE: The ban’s terms have now been published. UKSN is turning them into plain English here.
A Polish newspaper article (in Polish) reveals that a source referred to as “PAP” – evidently some kind of shooters’ association, though its exact identity is lost in translation – disclosed the proposals yesterday.
Central to the proposal is a ban on all semi-automatic rifles “similar to that used by the military”. While UK Shooting News is relying on Google Translate, translations of this concept from other reports on the same topic seem to indicate that the EU wants to go down the American route of banning firearms from civilian ownership depending on their looks.
“Which of the EU countries issued a permit for the islamic gun terrorists from Paris?”, Firearms United founder Andrzej Turczyn asked. “None of the terrorists had been able to possess a weapon with a permit. But these laws did not stop the Islamists from committing a hideous crime in Paris. For what reason, therefore, proposes the European Commission now – after the assassination in Paris – limited access to firearms for law-abiding Europeans? Others, like criminals or terrorists, do not pay attention to the law at all.”
Initially, the amendment was planned for next year, but the European Commission over the weekend analyzing the possible reactions to the Paris bombings recognized the need to accelerate the project.
It seems likely that the EU will use the Paris murders as an excuse to bring forward a long-planned ban on semi-automatic rifles. There has been no suggestion from politicians or news media that the murderers used legally acquired firearms.
Polish EU commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska is mentioned by name as being involved with the project. Firearms United appears to believe that Bienkowska may have revealed details of the gun ban push rather than being a driving force behind it.
The Poles are not happy with the EU’s proposals. The newspaper reports:
According to PAP, if Member States agree to the proposal of the European Commission, individuals will not be able to buy (for example) certain types of Kalashnikov (which Polish law permits). To acquire such a semi-automatic weapon that at least the premise is to serve the purpose of sports, but you have to have a permit.
The EU also wants to outlaw internet sales of firearms, which has serious implications for modern business’ ability to trade effectively:
The Commission has also propose tighter control of buying weapons and ammunition in order to eliminate the possibility of trading them through the internet. He also wants to across the EU are the same rules for marking weapons so that it could effectively “follow”, even if you change the owner.
“National registers of weapons would be combined in order to create a pan-European database”, continued the report, which stated that all refusals of grants of firearms certificates would be added to this database. Legitimate collectors will also be targeted by the EU, with increased restrictions on their ability to pursue their hobby.
The EU’s proposals first came to light when the Finnish government announced it would oppose the semi-auto ban proposals. Finland’s population has long had a healthy relationship with firearms in the sporting and defence contexts, with domestic competitions used as a means to encourage reservists to maintain a high standard of marksmanship.
Last week Britain’s NABIS, a police agency which sees itself as a crusader against firearms ownership, hosted a conference of EU law enforcement agencies in Birmingham. Many of the EU’s current proposals have the reek of the British nanny state about them, while NABIS has previously ordered politicians to ignore Parliamentary questions about its activities. Now is the time for rigorous democratic oversight of this agency to ensure its employees’ personal views are not seen by the rest of the world as official UK policy.
Home Secretary Theresa May openly called for the EU to adopt UK-style firearms laws yesterday, in the Daily Express newspaper. May, who once branded her own Conservatives “the nasty party”, clearly has no idea that British firearms laws permit ownership of .22″ semi-automatics and straight-pull conversions of Kalashnikovs.
Read also UKSN’s full take on May’s comments.
UK Shooting News 
PAP is a press agency.
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We need to fight this knee jerk reaction as a single community not as a divided community. They took our pistol away in 1997, now they want our semi auto rifles. What will be next. This is salami tactics from the elected criminals. They take away our sport slice by slice
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This isn’t a knee jerk. They’re just seizing an opportunity.
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Katherine, they already took your UK self-loaders after Hungerford. You do still have your .22 “Gallery Rifles” to lose, I guess. 😦
The biggest problem for sport shooters is: “I just want to do my sport”.
Gun owners in Europe have failed to learn that if all you profess is that you want your guns for sport, then it’s impossible to reconcile the enjoyment of your sport against the death of innocents, when egged on by opportunistic politicians standing on the still warm bodies of the dead.
You will never win from that position, and eventually, the last sport shooters remaining will run out of sub-groups of sportsmen to sell out and sacrifice.
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Except in canada. We don’t own guns for a defense and as owners recognize that it is not a valid reason to own a firearm. Hunting or sporting and thats it… and we love out guns.
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Agreed. A side from the sport, I can’t understand why the popular reaction is to make people more defenseless. In the US the police have completely change direction, and now stand with Americans to promote firearms ownership. The police know they cannot respond fast enough. When seconds count, the police are minutes away.
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What the heck is wrong with your governments over there?! Extremists smuggle in AUTOMATIC weapons… So their reaction is to punish and constrict law abiding owners? Outrageous. I’m sure we’ll see something like that here in Canada soon enough, though.
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It’s coming. The RCMP are wetting themselves at the possibilities of a Liberal majority government.
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Stupid people doing very stupid,dangerous things. These morons would have you believe that WWll was just one big mass shooting. These people are INSANE
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No different than the idiots all over the world, including the US. Blame the guns, not the people who do it. We’ll take (more of) your freedom and now you’ll just be more vulnerable. But trust us, we know best.
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All the EU states, including the UK, should all be *loosening* their restrictions on firearms, and not tightening them. You’d think that the UK would have learned after your crime rates spiked that it was a bad decision to ban guns.
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The British are brainwashed idiots. Not surprising for people paying to keep a fairytale family living the good life. They are servants to their lords. We need to stop trying to pushing our ideals and freedom on others. They neither appreciate nor do they understand it.
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hey, we arent brainwashed idiots “descendants of Leonidas”, we do want our guns back and we do want them for sport. unlike you americans who use an ar-15 for self defence. im telling you, if you have to use an ar-15 for defence then your country has a bloody problem.
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Con, you ARE a brainwashed idiot if you think you will get guns back “for sport” if you can’t have them for defense. You live in a total nanny state, and you have a total nanny state mentality if you think that using firearms for self defense is not useful, and you are even duller than suggested if you can’t understand how a high capacity firearm is useful in multiple assailant home invasion scenarios. Which, if I’m not mistaken, are even more of an occurrence in the UK than they are in the US. But facts and freedom be damned. Your mentality will ensure that you are debarred the use and possession of arms for the foreseeable future. Until everyone realizes that the police can’t and aren’t everywhere. Paris and San Bernadino are two very good examples of this. All the rules and laws there are don’t stop criminals, even criminals with guns. What’s that about terrorism? Oh yeah, from today http://www.wsj.com/articles/british-couple-convicted-of-plotting-terrorist-bombings-in-london-1451419649
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A little harsh, Leonidas. I served for 22 years in the armed forces fighting this sort of crap that happened in Paris. Thier is a growing movement of folks who do want thier hand guns back as it has been shown to be an illegal move by government.
I am just as aware as you are that in respect to violent crime the police are actually only 15Mins away whilst i take a clubbing and they watch on camera.
As for the royal family… OK bit quaint and out dated but are you aware that as a serviceman i swear alegance to the CROWN and promise to obey the LEGAL orders of the government. Thier is a definate required disconnect thier. The Police on the other hand Swear to UPHOLD the law (unfortunatley some attempt to politicise thier actions and attitudeds, they do howevr get cought out always and the required action taken. This is also being challanged as the PARIS events have basically brought everything to a head.)
Regards
TG
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I think we need to come together and to write to our politicians explaining why this is such a bad idea. However I don’t think this kind of law will be adopted so easily in Norway, Czech Republic and France where practical shooting is very popular and lots of people have semi-auto guns.
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The politicians in Europe want you disarmed and vulnerable. Firstly so you can’t fight back when they start implementing their “final solution”. Secondly, to ensure that criminality is rampant and you cling closer to government to save you (which it won’t).
Yes, you can keep your O/U S/S skeet and sporting clay guns and some bolt action rifles. For now. But soon you’ll be like “Dad’s Army” parading with brooms and preparing for the end.
You can say “no”. But as with the brits in 1998 and after Hungerford, you’ll meekly line up and hand over your property to the state with nary a peep (except some orderly protests that achieve nothing).
Good luck.
Americans of old had a different solution when agents of the King tried to take their guns.
They killed them.
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[star spangled banner via electric guitar]
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So what morons think terrorists will give a flying fuck about the ban?
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anything they had is not possible for anyone inside the EU to have legally, so what’s the Problem? Just another move from the feel good left wingers to make Europe even more vulnerable. The attack clearly shows that the terorits did obay the law. are they really that stupid in Brussels?
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Donald Trump argued on Saturday that the terrorist attack in Paris the previous night would have been “much, much different” if people there had been armed.
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https://www.intellihub.com/greek-coast-guard-intercepts-aid-container-full-of-weapons-firearms-intended-for-muslim-refugees/
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Very intéressant:
Gun control is a failure.
If there’s one thing the recent terror attacks in Paris proved — not just to those of us in the U.S. who have been fighting for gun rights all along, but to the entire international community — it’s that disarming citizens only serves to create populations of victims.
In fact, long before the attacks in Paris, in the aftermath of a similar terror event in Kenya, INTERPOL Secretary Ronald Noble concluded:
“What I’m saying is it makes police around the world question their views on gun control. It makes citizens question their views on gun control. You have to ask yourself, ‘Is an armed citizenry more necessary now than it was in the past with an evolving threat of terrorism?’ This is something that has to be discussed.”
The international community is once again faced with the all-too tangible reality that their vision of a gun-free utopian society is nothing more than a pipe dream.
Of course, here at the National Association for Gun Rights, we’ve recognized this simple fact all along. And it’s why we’ve fought tooth and nail to defend our Second Amendment rights — without compromise.
But while this comes as no shock to you and me, you can bet that the anti-gun crowd will be working overtime to explain away the obvious connection between the success of terrorism and their dangerous “gun-free” zones.
It seems they would rather we all be victims of terrorists and their radical agendas, just to preserve their illusion of “safety.”
But you and I know that our right to bear arms is all that stands between us and the terror the world just witnessed in France.
Whether it is a group of terrorists or a single homicidal madman, one part of the story never changes . . . these attacks all happen in so-called “gun-free” zones.
“Gun-free” zones cost innocent lives, almost without exception.
Even INTERPOL recognizes that simple fact, as Sec. Noble added:
“People are quick to say ‘gun control, people shouldn’t be armed,’ etc., etc. I think they have to ask themselves: ‘Where would you have wanted to be? In a city where there was gun control and no citizens armed . . . or in a place like Denver or Texas?’”
If you’re like me, you would gladly stand armed and free in Denver or Texas than disarmed and helpless against terror anywhere in the world.
That’s why compromise on our gun rights is simply not an option.
The National Association for Gun Rights, with your ongoing support and grassroots patriotism, will continue to fight to eliminate “gun-free” zones altogether, to ensure terrorism will always be met with equal force and resistance.
I hope you’ll continue to join with me in this critical fight for our gun rights.
Please read my email below. Your membership in the National Association for Gun Rights is coming close to expiring, and in light of recent events, your renewed support is critical.
Click here to renew your NAGR membership for 2016 right away.
Thanks in advance for your support and patriotism.
For Freedom,
Dudley Brown
President
National Association for Gun
——————————————————————————–
Dear Daniel :
Gun grabbers are still scheming to “cash in” on the grisly work of bloodthirsty madmen by trying to disarm law-abiding gun owners.
The Presidency of the United States is up for grabs.
Political “experts” are all but predicting an anti-gun takeover of the U.S. Senate.
And with the disarray we’ve witnessed in the U.S. House in recent months, the stakes for Second Amendment supporters are higher right now than ever before.
Daniel , I believe 2016 could be the most important year Second Amendment supporters have faced in a generation!
That’s why I need to ask you a blunt question:
Will you do your part?
Will you please click here to renew your membership in the National Association for Gun Rights IMMEDIATELY?
As a thank you for renewing your membership right now, your name will be automatically entered to win a Savage .338 Lapua Rifle package, valued at $3,792.
Even as I write you, state legislatures are just weeks from going back in session. New fights in Congress are brewing on so-called “compromise” legislation.
And with the race for 2016 getting hotter by the day, gun control kingpins like BILLIONAIRE former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and George Soros are already “all in.”
Their goal is to declare Second Amendment supporters FINISHED as a major force in American politics in 2016!
Should they succeed, gun grabbers will unleash their ENTIRE radical agenda on you and me, including:
*** The Feinstein Gun Ban.
Far worse than the expired ban, which was in effect from 1994-2004, this bill would outlaw 120 specifically named rifles, shotguns and pistols for cosmetic features gun grabbers think look “scary;”
*** So-called “Universal” or “Expanded Background Checks” (NATIONAL GUN REGISTRATION).
The gun grabbers’ dirty secret is that the ONLY way such a scheme could be enforced is for our federal government to keep track of every gun and gun owner in America. And as you and I both know, registration is the first step toward outright CONFISCATION!
*** The United Nations’ so-called “Small Arms Treaty.”
This scheme, going into effect right now across the globe, is nothing but gun control on an international scale. The gun grabbers’ crown jewel is designed to create an international database of “end users” of firearms — all at the fingertips of one-world globalists at the U.N.;
That’s why it’s so critical you click here to renew your membership TODAY.
The truth is, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Second Amendment supporters than they are right now.
After all, the ONLY reason you and I have fought off President Obama’s anti-gun assaults throughout his two terms in office is politicians’ pure FEAR…
…FEAR of what would happen to them at the ballot box should they dare to cross us.
But even after their all-out push for gun control in 2013 resulted in annihilation at the ballot box in 2014, gun grabbers are still trying to dismiss that election as an “aberration.”
They continue to tout poorly worded polls claiming 90% of Americans support new gun control schemes, and say the real test will be in 2016, when voter turnout is likely to be sky-high.
The bad news is, I’m afraid the media and some members of BOTH parties are starting to buy the gun grabbers’ nonsense.
In fact, you may remember that as recently as 2011, Barack Obama campaigned for re-election claiming, “I believe in the Second Amendment” to try and mask his sheer hatred for gun rights.
But those days are long gone.
Today, EVERY Democratic candidate for the White House is loudly and unapologetically calling for more gun control.
Several Republican candidates for President have mixed or flat-out, anti-gun records as well.
In the wake of the recent “Gun Free Zone” murders in places like Oregon, I’m becoming more and more worried about what I’m seeing from BOTH parties in Congress…
I’m afraid it’s no accident.
Anti-gun Members of Congress will do anything to fire up their radical base of gun control supporters.
And whenever important elections loom, high-powered consultants and insiders always urge Republicans to do whatever they can to look “reasonable” to the American people.
This time, I’m sure they’re calling for a grand bipartisan gun control “deal” ahead of the November 2016 elections.
That way, politicians can claim they “did something” in the wake of shootings in 2015 — while still campaigning to voters as “pro-Second Amendment.”
With the rollercoaster the U.S. House has been on in recent weeks — and an anti-gun Senate takeover looking more and more likely — the pressure for a “deal” will only increase.
That’s why you and I can’t take anything for granted -– and why it’s so critical you click here to renew your membership for 2016 right away.
As I mentioned, most state legislatures go back into session in just weeks. New developments occur in Congress on a weekly basis.
Not only that, but key House, Senate and presidential primaries are just around the corner as well.
Gun grabbers are desperate to prove gun control is the wave of the future. They plan to do that by winning while using gun control as a major overriding issue in 2016.
So your support today could not be more critical.
As Thomas Jefferson stated, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
In other words, freedom dies the moment patriots like you stop fighting.
We must fight back. If we don’t, we’ll be digging the grave for our treasured Second Amendment.
After all, the National Association for Gun Rights’ ongoing effectiveness depends on the support of good folks like you.
It’s the only way we can stand up to the deep pockets of gun grabbers like Michael Bloomberg and George Soros.
Resources are needed to generate the petitions, phone calls, faxes and emails it takes to make politicians listen.
Running the hard-hitting radio, Internet and TV ads it takes to hold them accountable is only possible with your generosity.
Fending off the legal assaults designed to shut Second Amendment supporters up during election years can be very expensive also.
But the good news is, time and again, you and I have proven we can make a tremendous impact.
Even when our backs have been against the wall, you’ve proven we can stand up to the Obama administration and WIN.
When virtually everyone thought gun control was a foregone conclusion after the horrific Newtown murders, we stood up and derailed the so-called “Toomey-Manchin” compromise.
Then, we held gun grabbers accountable at the ballot box in 2014, and went on to pass Constitutional Carry in both Kansas and Maine this year!
As a result of the consistent action of supporters like you, we’ve turned plenty of heads in Washington, D.C.
As U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) stated:
>>> “Without NAGR’s bare-knuckled, no-compromise tactics, I believe President Obama would have already succeeded in ramming gun control into law.”
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) later echoed Senator Lee’s words stating:
>>> “Without [National Association for Gun Rights members’] action — and the continued action and support of good folks like you — I shudder to think what might have already been RAMMED into law.”
But our work is not done. In fact, the stakes are higher today than ever before.
Everything we’ve fought for together could go up in smoke in 2016 if folks like you choose to just sit this one out.
So won’t you please click here to renew your membership in the National Association for Gun Rights right away?
Of course, whatever amount you choose to give is up to you.
But, as I mentioned, my hope is you’ll agree to go above and beyond what you’ve done in the past.
We have so many more important fights ahead of us.
There’s no denying 2016 is going to be an absolutely critical year. I need all hands on deck.
The gun grabbers are going to come after us with everything they have.
They believe winning in 2016 will mean the death of Second Amendment supporters as a major national political force in America.
So if you and I don’t act, it will result in a gun control DISASTER.
It’s that simple.
Daniel , that’s why I’m counting on you now more than ever.
Will you please renew your National Association for Gun Rights’ membership right away?
I know you understand the stakes in 2016. Please do your part by renewing your membership in the National Association for Gun Rights today.
And as a special thank you for renewing right away, your name will be automatically entered in a drawing for a Savage .338 Lapua Rifle package, valued at $3,792.
Thank you, in advance, for your support.
For Freedom,
Dudley Brown
President
P.S. Daniel , with your 2016 National Association for Gun Rights’ membership up for renewal — and so much on our plates during this critical election year — I’m asking you to go above and beyond what you’ve done in the past.
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what idiot jackass politician thought this was a good idea?EU they are using this crisis to disarm you.its part of the plan.
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yep criminal terrorist attacked innocent people with illegal guns and explosives that are already band and their response is to make them even more illegal. yep that will stop it. are these countries run by fools?
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My wife is from Walsall. She got her U.S. citizenship in 2008.Having lived in that culture and now here, she has been on a gun buying frenzy. Please, Brits, don’t let this happen. Protect your freedoms.
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Banning guns dose not stop criminals or terrorists from getting access to them, arm your population and give them a fighting chance, firearm restrictions only impact law abiding EU citizens not terrorists who source their firearms on the black market so as to leave no paper trail. Don’t get bullied into giving up rights because of emotional tension so soon after this attack
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Please disregard any postings from Dudley Brown and his NAGR. Join the National Rifle Association, the Second Amendment Foundation or any other Firearms Rights organization. Dudley’s main goal is to separate you from your money. NAGR, RMGO, or any other thing that Dudley runs hasn’t done one single thing to protect your rights. It’s all about padding Dudley’s pockets.
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i’m sorry you are a fool. NRA are shills
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Shills for…?
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It has nothing to do with terror attacks or crime or anything other than petty politics, these proposals. Just like here in South Africa,these have been planned all along/in the works for a while(by coincidence NOT), they now believe they will have enough public support/less resistence after Friday night.
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Unbelievable. If anything having armed citizens in Paris may have reduced the death toll. Terrorists find it much harder to shoot people if someone is shooting back. If a terrorist with a machine gun walks into a room of unarmed civilians then a lot of people are going to die. If they walk into room of armed civilians then they are going to get shot pretty quickly. Why is it that politicians always think that removing legally held firearms is somehow going to have an effect on illegally held firearms ? The rise in gun crime in the UK after that pistol ban is clear evidence that the two are not linked in any way.
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Political stupidity everywhere. The terrorists smuggle in full-auto Kalashnikovs, and euro weenie politicos want to grab semi autos. Google grief.
MOLON LABE!
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I am having difficulty understanding this point from the article:
“…the EU wants to go down the American route of banning firearms from civilian ownership depending on their looks.”
There is no such thing in America, as far as I know. Most of such laws have been replaced by “shall issue” mandates in firearms carry, for example. Europeans should be so fortunate.
There are of course some attempts (e.g. in New York and New Jersey and Connecticut) by the ruling class to clamp down on firearms ownership. These efforts are fruitless because gun owners now understand there is no virtue in being law abiding, if the law is evil. There have been massive examples of noncompliance (over 90% in New York) and police have gone on record as refusing to enforce these laws (smart move – they don’t want to get shot). I advise Europeans to follow our example. Stop paying attention to tyrants, and arm yourselves. You should be going out RIGHT NOW and buying yourselves AK-47’s or AR-15’s. Be like Americans, who have record sales of these rifles at the moment, which surely must give the ruling class pause…
http://bearingarms.com/record-gun-sales-surge-continue-democrats-push-confiscation/
Click to access nics_firearm_checks_-_month_year.pdf
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Canada spent 2 billion to attempt to register 1/3rd of the legal guns in Canada. The projected cost had been 200 million. It was a complete and utter failure and a waste of time, money and resources.
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Sign and share the petition
https://www.change.org/p/council-of-the-european-union-eu-you-cannot-stop-terrorism-by-restricting-legal-gun-ownership
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So once again the authorities knees jerk and their immediate response is to discriminate against their own law-abiding citizens with further draconian attempts at limiting sporting activities while completely ignoring the fact that NO terrorist crimes have been committed with legally held guns. What is wrong with these idiots? Why are they so hysterical and seemingly incapable of constructing common sense policy that DOESN’T involve being bigoted?
These pension-watchers enjoy the close protection of armed security while the rest of us have to make do with an incompetent plod who show dreadful firearm discipline and turn up after the events unfold.
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‘R9-Arms’ machine pistol Illegally manufactured in small workshops and distributed to criminals groups across Europe. How will any of these new restrictions stop homebrew bootleg firearms like this?
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/08/11/mystery-9mm-machine-pistol-seized-europe/
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The attempt to disarm the Europeans while doing nothing against the illegal arms trade and letting illegal immigrants (there are proofs that ISIS associates are among them) to freely roam across the Europe is a sign of coming war against the European people. Many crimes against the people were preceded by the ban of firearms.
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Amazing idea. So the terrorist will find a way tto buy themselves whatever weapon they want and we won’t be able to defend at all…
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I guess it’s good to know that these idiots are in every country. Or maybe it’s not good…
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Terrorists are already banned and see what happens. Banning the legal to fight the illegal is plain stupid.
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Word has it, the EU believes it would not be politically correct to defend yourself if a jihadi attempts to kill you: it might offend them.
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