It was a pleasure to meet again Mr. Stephen A. Petroni – the Chairman of the Foundation of European Societies of Arms Collectors (FESAC) – at the 2017 edition of the IWA OutdoorClassics expo in Nuremberg, Germany.

And with the proceedings at the European Parliament deemed to end very soon – possibly within the first half of March! – the subject of our meeting could not be anything else but what is now commonly known as the "EU Gun Ban".

Although the outright bans proposed by the European Commission back in November 2015, and supported by the Council of the European Union, have been thrown out altogether, several critical points remain that could by themselves cause a vast disruption of the civil rights and livelyhood of gun manufacturers, distributors, retailers and of all gun owners in Europe.

And the sheer fact that those provisions are already to be found in the text being discussed at the European Parliament would allow the national governments of many Member States to impose even stricter rules without taking any responsibility in front of their citizens.

Mr. Petroni was keen to highlight the role played by FESAC – along with many other organizations, including Firearms United – in fighting the draconian measures originally proposed by the European Commission; a fight that is still being carried on to amend the text agreed upon during the Trilogue with the Commission and the Parliament and remove all remaining critical points.

See our interview to know more about the amendments being tabled and possibly slated for discussion later on this month!