Prague, April 10 (CTK) – The Czech government has prepared a complaint about the European directive for firearms possession, Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Social Democrats, CSSD) told journalists today.
The Czech Republic may file the complaint at the moment the directive takes effect, which may be in about six weeks, Chovanec said.
“If the government decides to file the complaint after the directive takes effect, we will be ready to file it within a few weeks’ time,” Chovanec said.
“This means that it may be within a month or a month and a half after today,” he added.
The European directive introducing stricter conditions for arms possession was passed by the European Parliament in mid-March. In the Czech Republic, many have rejected it.
Chovanec said the reason was that Czechs had “fallen in love” with semi-automatic firearms whose use is limited by the legislation.
The directive wants to prevent terrorists from arming themselves, while its critics argue that it mainly limits the market with legally held weapons, strongly interfering in the internal affairs of a state, which conflicts with the EU law.
Chovanec said he believed if the government filed the complaint, it would probably succeed, even if no other EU member joined it.
“We have about a 70 percent chance to succeed,” Chovanec said.
The directive says EU countries must transpose the legislation into national laws within 15 months after it is declared.
pv/dr
