Provisions on antique weapons seen exaggerated

The Arms Bill was exaggerated in the controls it imposed on the possession of antique weapons, Labour MP José Herrera has complained in Parliament.

He said that in terms of the bill, even cannon balls and weapons dating back to the time of the knights and the French in Malta needed to be registered and subject to a licence by the police commissioner.

Dr Herrera said many people owned antique and artistic weapons which they had inherited. The bill was laying down that no person may posses for collection purposes any firearm which was antique, artistic, historic or rare without the necessary licence.

If a person inherited such antique weapons and the police commissioner refused to grant a licence what would happen? Would these be seized by the police? The law was silent on the matter. One should be granted compensation in such instances.

The commissioner may refuse the granting of a licence in this case for many reasons, such as that when a person who had inherited such weapons would have committed an offence when he was young. The new Arms Board should include members who could calculate the compensation due.

Indeed, should all those who possessed antique weapons have to apply for a licence? Would they be liable to criminal proceedings if they did not? There should be amnesty in these cases. He suggested that with regard to antique weapons, one should only register them.

Dr Herrera said he also felt it was too much that the bill provided that the illegal importation of just one firearm could make a person liable for a 10-year jail term. Trafficking of firearms was a much more serious offence but importation of only one firearm should not attract that punishment. He said the provision should be amended.

He referred to other provisions stating that in the case of an offence committed by a licensee by means of any licensed firearm, upon conviction, the punishment would increase by two degrees. The Criminal Code already contemplated punishment in case of a person who committed an offence with arms proper. Therefore the increase of two degrees should be eliminated from the bill. A grievous injury may also be caused by other instruments which were not firearms.

Furthermore, if a person had the right to go hunting in certain areas and therefore had to carry his firearm to arrive to that area, the carrying of the arm should not be considered as an offence.

For diving purposes a person may possess a knife. But would he be allowed to possess a harpoon? A harpoon was defined as an arm proper according to case law. He felt that a distinction, however, had to be made between different harpoons.

Dr Herrera said that for a person to purchase a firearm there would be the requirement of a licence. When a person bought a firearm, such as an antique, from an auction would he be required to possess the licence before the purchase? If this was the case, people would not be able to purchase firearms from such auctions anymore.

Franco Galea (PN) said that if sports shooting was to develop, Malta needed more shooting ranges. He suggested that a section of the old military ranges at Pembroke was adapted for this purpose.

Sports practice shooting could indeed be a tourist attraction in Malta, given that the weather was excellent for outdoor shooting for at least eight months of the year.

With the age threshold for shooting at ranges being reduced, it was essential that safety regulations were firmly enforced. This applied particularly to the way firearms were carried and stored. Clearly, firearms should not be loaded during transportation or in storage. And modifications of firearms should be prohibited because this often made them more dangerous.

Mr Galea said the issue of whether people should carry weapons for self defence was a sensitive one. The issue involved people who worked as security guards, bouncers and other people, such as doctors, who could be threatened. This issue had to be tackled carefully because one could not have many guns around. Perhaps one should consider alternatives, such as pepper sprays.

On the age threshold for airgun shooting, Mr Galea said he did not know if the minimum of 14 years was good enough to prepare young people for international competitions. Perhaps one should consider going down a bit further. But the important thing was safety, not just for the shooters but also parents. Clearly, airguns should not become a gift one gave at birthdays or for passing exams.

Joe Brincat (MLP) suggested that the new law retained the number of the ordinance it would replace, for practical purposes.

He suggested that the exception from the law being granted to the armed forces should actually apply to disciplined forces.

Dr Brincat expressed his sadness at seeing children play with toy guns, but what was even worse were replica guns which, he said, could leave an imprint in children's minds on the use of guns. Children had to grow in an environment that was free of violence and replica guns had to be monitored with more attention. He called on the importers to import toys which were not replica of weapons as these toys could affect children's behaviour.

Dr Brincat said young people were being found in the Paceville area carrying weapons in their socks and when interviewed by the police these said that they were carrying them for self-defence purposes.

He said possession of weapons "just in case something happened" was dangerous and had been the cause of incidents getting out of hand.

Dr Brincat referred to shooting ranges, insisting there should be proper regulations on the running of the ranges and an interface established by law on how permits for ranges were issued after approval by the various authorities such as the police and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

Parliamentary Secretary Edwin Vassallo said the bill was written in a very responsible way. One now had to see how the new mechanism worked in practice.

Like Dr Brincat and contrary to what Anglu Farrugia (MLP) said on Tuesday, Mr Vassallo said he disagreed with licensing weapons for self-defence. One should not open the market such that knives and guns became as common as a pen in pocket.

It was good that the law would ease age limits for practice shooting at the shooting ranges.

Mr Vassallo said the law would establish an "audit trail" that would follow a weapon from the day it was imported right on to its sale. What he was concerned about was that the bill said nothing about efficiency in the way licences for 'to keep' weapons were issued.

Mr Vassallo suggested that it should be the police, not Mepa, which licensed shops selling weapons.