Press Release: Fighting organised crime: Commission proposes better control of firearms

The European Commission on 3 March 2006 presented proposals for an amendment of Council Directive 91/477/EEC of 18 June 1991 on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons. The amendments were proposed to strengthen the security aspects of the Directive in order to further prevent the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms. The Commission proposal aligned the Directive with the so-called 'Firearms Protocol' against transnational organised crime by the United Nations, to which the EU accessed in 2001. The proposal also aimed at facilitating the tracing of civil arms and strengthen the security of trade of these arms.

European Commission: PreLex: COM(2006) 93, Proposal for a Directive ... amending Council Directive 91/477/EEC on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons, 3.3.06 http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/detail_dossier.cfm?CL=en&ReqId=0&DocType=COM&DocYear=2006&DocNum=0093

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