Serious threat to hobby

[Lynn Eades]

https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/...comments-block

Maybe Hanno or a moderator with the skills can edit out the peripheral junk.

[maple_leaf_eh]

"While the revisions appear to grandfather in current owners of vintage military vehicles equipped with weapons, they also appear to require current owners of deactivated weapons permanently mounted to military vehicles to register their vehicles and to add identifying marks to the vehicles’ weapons. In addition, the revisions limit the buying, selling, or trading of military vehicles equipped with active or deactivated weapons within the European Union."

So how is this going to be different than red muzzle caps on Airsoft and Paintball markers? The idea there was to make a quick visual feature that showed the item was deemed a non-firearm.

I understand the pressure to standardize deactivation rules. From what I've read, there have been terrorists and criminals who have bought pieces from the least rigorous jurisdictions and restored them to firing status. No one wants that. Where the regulators lose whatever support they had in the HMV community is when they choose the most scrupulous standard and then decide it isn't tough enough. Vandalizing a precious piece for correctness is hard enough without more layers of compliance.

In Canada there have been several sets of deactivation guidelines, with the latest being plenty tough enough. The fly-in-the-ointment is the older standard pieces are cock and click versus lump of unyielding steel, and command higher prices. Why? Because they are closer to realistic.

[jdmcm]

Frightening....simply frightening....

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eades

Maybe Hanno or a moderator with the skills can edit out the peripheral junk.

This link may work better: https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/...itary-vehicles

I have quoted the article verbatim below:

Hemmings Daily
European collectors restricted from buying tanks, other vintage military vehicles

Daniel Strohl on Dec 22nd, 2016

Under new security measures passed this week in Europe, firearms collectors there – including collectors of tanks and other weapon-toting military vehicles – will face greater scrutiny from authorities in an attempt to crack down on terrorist activity.
The revised European Union’s Firearms Directive, which the European Commission, Parliament, and Council agreed to earlier in December, passed a majority of EU Member States earlier this week with only two countries, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg, opposing it. While the majority of the new regulations in the revised Firearms Directive dealt with tightening regulations on certain non-lethal weapons that could be made lethal, the revisions also explicitly address firearms collectors – previously exempted from the Firearms Directive – as well as deactivated weapons, such as those found on vintage military vehicles.
Specifically according to a European Commission fact sheet on the revisions, the new regulations treat collectors and museums like any other private citizen, which is to say they may not acquire military vehicles (which fall under the Directive’s Category A, the same category as fully automatic weapons) unless individually permitted by their country’s authorities. The new regulations also reclassify deactivated weapons as Category C firearms “subject to declaration to national authorities;” the Firearms Directive did not previously regulate deactivated firearms.
The EU already implemented legislation in April that specified exactly how firearms are to be deactivated.
While the revisions appear to grandfather in current owners of vintage military vehicles equipped with weapons, they also appear to require current owners of deactivated weapons permanently mounted to military vehicles to register their vehicles and to add identifying marks to the vehicles’ weapons. In addition, the revisions limit the buying, selling, or trading of military vehicles equipped with active or deactivated weapons within the European Union.
The revisions do not appear to strike any sort of distinction between vintage military vehicles and weapons and more current military vehicles and weapons. Nor do the revisions appear to require any current owners of vintage military vehicles with active weapons to deactivate those weapons.
Authorities in Europe began the process of revising the existing Firearms Directive following last year’s Paris terrorist attacks with the aim of preventing deactivated weapons from becoming reactivated and of closing loopholes that would allow firearms to fall into the hands of terrorists.
While the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens, which represents collector car interests in Europe, has yet to comment on the most recent action, FIVA officials earlier this year voiced their opposition to the revisions, noting that historic and collectible military vehicles would not make for likely candidates for use by terrorists or criminals.
FIVA instead proposed to create registries for “artifacts of cultural and historical interest” to include vintage military vehicles and thus allow collectors and museums continued access to them.
The revisions to the Firearms Directive have yet to pass the wider European Parliament or EU Council of Ministers, which are expected to vote on the revisions early next year.

[Tony Smith]

Good to see Europe finally catching up with Australia!

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Tony Smith

Good to see Europe finally catching up with Australia!

Now you can see why we want to get out of Europe

[Chris Suslowicz]

Europe is not the problem; the problem is the politicians running scared of the press "Barons" (Murdoch, Rothermere, etc.) and their relentless campaign of fear, uncertainty and doubt (aimed at keeping their readership hooked and hence their advertising revenue).

I used to be cynical about the press, now I'm just disgusted.

Chris.

[Lynn Eades]

Originally Posted by Richard Farrant

Now you can see why we want to get out of Europe

Is the U.N.next?

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Please take a moment to read this article, written by a better-informed journalist:

http://www.militarytrader.com/jagfil...hobbyuntil-now

[Tony Smith]

Yes, and those same links were in the Hemmings article, if anyone had bothered to read them.

Hence my comments regarding Europe falling into line with Australia. Any de-activated firearm (of any type) is treated in exactly the same way for licencing, storage and registration as it's fully-functioning brother. They must have identifying marks (ie a unique serial number) and you may have to pay for a licence or permit to buy, keep or sell them. There are exemptions for "Cannons" (ie field, naval and AFV ordnance) that vary for age, calibre and purpose, but even these can be subject some restrictions, however generally there is no limitations to ownership if they have been appropriately de-milled.

But, Lynn did you know that these laws also already apply in NZ? But NZ doesn't have the exemptions for large calibres, so for example the prospective buyer of the South Island Centurion that has been for sale now for a couple of years must have a licence for the "Single shot rifle" that is the deactivated main gun !

This has apparently been a stumbling block for a couple of prospective purchasers! Despite it remaining a relatively straight forward process for most people in NZ, it still requires the applicant to prove to Police they are a "fit and Proper" person and undergo several interviews and training courses. Is this a threat to our hobby? Or does it weed out the undesirables? I personally think the asking prices for Armoured Vehicles is a much bigger threat to people entering the hobby!