Brussels, 16/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - At a public hearing on the firearms directive held within the internal market and consumer protection (IMCO) committee on Tuesday 15 March, Edward Impey, director general & master at UK Royal Armouries, delivered a warning on the Commission's desire to make category A weapons (automatic firearms) held in museums inoperable. A move such as this could be to the detriment of the European cultural heritage.
The modifications at issue are those contained in Article 2.2 and Article 6 of Directive 91/477/EEC on the control of the acquisition and possession of weapons. In its current form, Article 2.2, provides for exemptions for collections belonging to “the armed forces, the police, the public authorities or by collectors and bodies concerned with the cultural and historical aspects of weapons”. In its new version, the Commission proposes removing the last two and replacing them with “public authorities”. Article 6 on banning acquisition and possession of category A firearms is expanded and, in its new form, proposes that such arms belonging to cultural and historic bodies be rendered inoperable.
Impey calls for Article 2 to be retained in its current form and seeks clarification of the definition of “public authorities”. Above all, making firearms inoperable is a bad step, in his view, for four reasons. Firstly, for cultural reasons: rendering firearms inoperable is tantamount to destroying them. Weapons are dynamic arms, he said. It is through their active operation that innovation and specificities can be detected, he said. Secondly, making firearms inoperable could prevent crime and terrorism being tackled effectively. Criminal investigation officers use weapons collections held by museums to detect their distinguishing features in ballistics tests. Thirdly, he said, safety standards for arms possession are currently adequate and, he pointed out, hitherto no weapon belonging to a museum has been used in a terrorist attack. And lastly, he fears that the new directive might lead to discrimination between “authorised” museums and the others.
The issue in the new directive of how museums and collectors are dealt with is not a new one. It was raised on several occasions by MEPs from the same IMCO committee in December of last year, including by Nicola Danti (S&D, Italy), who railed that “we yet to see terrorists using crossbows” (see EUROPE 11451). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)