Prague, July 25 (CTK) – Senate chairman Milan Stech received a petition against the European firearms directive on control of firearms possession and acquisition from the Czech opponents to the introduction of the stricter rules on Tuesday.
Hunter Bohumil Straka, one of the petition’s organisers, told journalists that nearly 90,000 people put their signatures under the petition.
The Senate received part of the signatures previously and 40,000 of them on Tuesday.
The petition was an impulse for the drafting of an amendment to the Czech constitution, which gives legal arms holders the right to intervene if the security of the country is at stake. The Chamber of Deputies has already passed this amendment, while the Senate is yet to discuss it.
Straka said the EU directive is an absolute nonsense.
Hunters would have to officially register their defunct firearms, which they have merely as decorations, he said.
Straka said the present Czech legislation related to firearms is good enough.
Adam Tyc, a world champion in competitive shooting, said the EU directive would ban some categories of the shooting sport in Europe, unlike in other continents.
The European Parliament passed the directive on firearms in March. Its aim is to prevent terrorists from getting armed, but its critics say it mainly restricts the rights of legal arms holders and interferes into the interior security affairs of countries.
The changes would affect nearly all of the 300,000 holders of arms licences in the Czech Republic as well as owners of defunct rifles and ammunition.
The directive took effect in June and EU members states must incorporate it in their national legislations by September 2018.
Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said previously that Prague would challenge the directive at the EU Court of Justice.
