EUGunBan: Push for 2A in the Czech Republic

Between Czech and Swiss model, which one do you consider better?

  • Switzerland: generally easier access to firearms, but forget concealed carry

  • Czech Republic: higher innitial hurdle - must gain license first, but shall issue concealed carry


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So, 10 minutes after the press release came out, I ordered semi-automatic ZB.26. I wanted also ZB.30-37 but they are sold out. One of the main points of the directive is banning semi-auto firearms that were made by modification of select-fire firearms. During the phonecall, the "manufacturer" told me that under Czech law, his guns are not modified, but newly manufactured firearms, so he doesn't expect to be covered by the restriction (meanwhile CZ seller told me the opposite about vz.58). Well, leave it to the Czechs to find a loophole.

The beauty is home. I was lucky enough to get to the seller first when his batch of 6 arrived back from the proofing house and had opportunity to choose which one I want. No Wehrmacht chicken sign, no swastikas on my 1928 gun; also, someone will be quite unhappy about the state of his gas piston rod on his late 30s gun... while his spotless one sits within my gun.

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Anyway, back to the point of this thread: it is not only modified to semi-auto, but given also a new fresh set of serial numbers all around. Meanwhile the vz.58 sold by CZ retains its original serials. Which probably explains why the seller of the ZB.26 claimed that legally, he sells a new semi-auto gun, while the CZ shop claims that theirs is modification falling under the EU Gun Ban.

New serial on the barrel (out of sight when assembled):
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New serial on the lower (out of sight when assembled):
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Few observations after having spent 3 hours getting the lube out and oil in without having shot it:
- the gun itself is quite light. I opted to carry it in bag on my back through Prague due to nice weather instead of using car in the rush hour (also seller is close to my flat) and I didn't break a sweat
- I am not that knowledgeable about guns or old guns, but apart from wood, which is a bit weathered but still fine, it looks in a really great shape
- the take down procedure is unbelievably similar to that of piston AR
- the fire selector has SAFE-SEMI-FULL AUTO options (or 0-1-20 as the engineers marked it back in 1928) with the last one now becoming another SAFE, so personally I take the loss of full auto as acceptable price for avoiding the hassle involved in getting select fire in the Czech Republic (which is may issue)
- unfortunately the proofing authority required that the front takedown pin is secured in, so there is limited access to fire selector internals and I can't completely separate the lower from the upper

All in all I am really happy with the purchase. I will still try to get ZB.30-37 - the problem is that they are priced at 1/3 of ZB.26 and the seller told me he already has orders for 300 but manages to "produce" only about 50 a month. UK.59 purchase should be straightforward though.
 
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Nice rifle! What's 7.92×57mm Mauser ammo availability like there? I can't say I've ever seen it on the shelves, here. I'm guessing due to it being an old German military round it should be much more common in Europe than here in the US.
 
Nice rifle! What's 7.92×57mm Mauser ammo availability like there? I can't say I've ever seen it on the shelves, here. I'm guessing due to it being an old German military round it should be much more common in Europe than here in the US.

No problem getting one, just the price that is at about 80c - 1USD - a bit steep for me. One more reason not weep about the loss of full auto.
 
UPDATE:

The Directive was published in official journal today: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32017L0853

It will become effective in 20 days. The national states will then have 15 months to implement it into their own legal systems (i.e. pass local laws that conform to the minimum standard set by the Directive).

Directive's deadline grandfathering clause will close on 13 June. I.e., if implemented properly, national laws should not allow possession of prohibited weapons that were registered after this date (unless other exception for possession applies).

I was registering my S-ZB 26 today. The cop noted that the number of people registering new guns seem to be declining now - most probably that the run on the shops in the previous months led to most desirable semi-auto rifles being sold out.

Getting vz.58 is next to impossible now, all good AK are gone (i.e. only Polish or Romanian left on the shelves), only higher priced AR left to buy. Semi-auto ZB 26 and ZB 30-37 all sold out, the same as UK.59. I could go on and on but it is mostly the same story. If you call around a few LGS to get "good stuff" you are left hanging out on the waiting list to get to the real waiting list.
 
I got this private message and I thought some of you guys might be also interested in reading the answer, so here it goes:

What is the situation in Europe, Switzerland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic regarding its implementation?

Would there be a blanket ban on A7 in the Czech Republic? Or would exemptions be given liberally?

Also, what is the public opinion currently in the Czech Republic? What is the situation with the constitutional amendment in the Czech Republic?

Situation in Europe: SHTF in most countries. In France, the outgoing Government is already tightening the screws. I expect most governments to follow the suit. It has for years been extremely popular with national politicians in Europe to enact unpopular laws while claiming it comes from the EU. The same can be expected as outcome of this Directive, as if it wasn't bad enough on its own.

Switzerland: The gun folk over there seem to be working hard towards having referendum on throwing the Directive out. That would probably not only lead to Switzerland having to leave the Schengen, but probably also several more bilateral treaties with EU that are extremely valuable for Swiss economy. Meanwhile, Swiss are about to have referendum on curbing immigration from the EU (they have real problems mainly with Germans and Austrians taking local's high paying jobs). This would have the same effect now that the EU needs to show muscle before Brexit negotiations - Brexit really sealed the deal on any prospects of special treatment that Swiss may have expected (one of the main EU freedoms is freedom to move and seek job in another country, which Switzerland has to abide to due to a number of bilateral treaties that on the other hand allow free access to the EU market to Swiss companies).

Slovakia: Slovakia voted for the Directive. Pardon my French but F them. They are moving from one populist government to another and they can't even do the populism right as evidenced by the Directive vote.

Czech Republic: We will file a suit against the Directive by the European Court of Justice; it now seems that Poland (which voted for the Directive, but had falling out of love with EU recently) might support the suit too. We will fight it both due to substance as well as procedural reasons, it seems that Poland will focus on procedural reasons only (i.e. the way it was passed). The rest will be decided by the autumn election.

Ban on B7 in CR: The current strategy of the Social Democratic party that leads the Government coalition but seems to be on the way to lose the election to ANO party (which does not support the Constitutional Amendment) is to: 1) pass the amendment and invoke national security exemption derived from the primary EU law, 2) file the suit at the ECJ and not implement the Directive before the suit is decided (i.e. about 3 years) 3) establish "Ministry of Interior Militia" that will comprise anyone willing to join and thus use another of the Directive's exemptions (which was included to appease Finland and Estonia) 4) generally cut all corners that are available in the text of the Directive to preserve the current state of things as regards access to firearms.

Public opinion: Reenactor's societies have become extremely active in recent weeks as the Directive moves their black powder or decommissioned guns from free-to-own into must-register category. Under current law, all C category firearms in the Czech Republic require firearms license, which most reenactors don't have and are unwilling to obtain. This would probably change when new law is passed to implement the Directive (i.e. they would only need registration, not the license same as for "real" firearms), however the Directive also sets rules for safe keeping which they would need to follow. This would A) raise cost for most B) be impossible for many who own canons or even heavy machinery with operable canons. Yes, there are people who privately own for example T-72 with operational canon, and which would according to some interpretation of the Directive now need to be put inside a proper safe. Anyways, the reenactors are very vocal and they are being heard in the media. The simple message that is getting through is that "EU is banning 14 century Hussite píšťala in order to fight terrorism" (with the unsaid "while forcing us to import hordes of Muslim immigrants" as the Brussels now moves forward with the immigrant quota enforcement).

So yes, this is currently the main topic of the EU Gun Ban in the Czech media and it is helping our cause with public opinion immensely:



Amendment: Went through 1st reading in the Chamber of Deputies, went through the Security Committee and will go through Constitutional Committee by the end of the month. It has taken a back seat due to our constitutional crisis that has stemmed from the disagreement between the Prime Minister (Social Democrat) and President over sacking of the Finance Minister (ANO).
 
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Some thoughts I would like to add to the implementation of the directive:

IF a country/government wants, they can effectively bypass most major points of the directive except for the magazine restrictions. They can grant licenses for cat. A firearms for "educational, cultural, including film and theatre, research or historical purposes" and for "national defense". The directive lists some possible reasons, but does not limit to them, so it's up to the country to decide that. Additionally, they can grant licences to collectors for "historical, cultural, scientific, technical, educational or heritage purposes".
Also, semi-automatic firearms are only to be classified in cat. A if they are select fire, converted frim select fire or easily convertable to select fire - again it is up to the country to decide what "easily convertable" means.
Medical checks were made optional, and if you have a licensing system (which all EU-countries have) in place, the "monitoring system" requirement is already met.
However, the major thing you can not get around are magazine restrictions, which is not that big of a problem for handguns as they are limited to 20 rounds, but a very big deal for long-guns which are limited to 10 rounds.

So concluding, it comes down to the member states themselves for the most part. Sadly, as you already have pointed out, it is common practice for national politicians to take the "hey, I dont like it either, but the EU forces us..."-road with unpopular laws.
In Austria, our current government has told us, nothing will change except for the magazine restrictions (we already have outlawed "easily convertables", which in reality means, you have to switch out 2 parts and you are good to go as a manufacturer...), but the elections have been moved up a year to this fall - so we will see, what the next government looks like.
 
Also, semi-automatic firearms are only to be classified in cat. A if they are select fire, converted frim select fire or easily convertable to select fire - again it is up to the country to decide what "easily convertable" means.

I disagree, the Directive states:

in category A, the following points are added:

‘6. Automatic firearms which have been converted into semi-automatic firearms, without prejudice to Article 7(4a).

7.Any of the following centre-fire semi-automatic firearms:

(a) short firearms which allow the firing of more than 21 rounds without reloading, if:

(i) a loading device with a capacity exceeding 20 rounds is part of that firearm; or

(ii) a detachable loading device with a capacity exceeding 20 rounds is inserted into it;

(b) long firearms which allow the firing of more than 11 rounds without reloading, if:

(i) a loading device with a capacity exceeding 10 rounds is part of that firearm; or

(ii) a detachable loading device with a capacity exceeding 10 rounds is inserted into it.

8. Semi-automatic long firearms (i.e. firearms that are originally intended to be fired from the shoulder) that can be reduced to a length of less than 60 cm without losing functionality by means of a folding or telescoping stock or by a stock that can be removed without using tools.

The Directive does not state anything about "ease of converting" as you write, it simply bans firearms which have been converted. All semi-auto vz.58 and most AK firearms in the Czech Republic are made by converting mil surplus frm select-fire. Meanwhile AR 15 are typically newly made as semi-auto. I don't know much about Austrian gun market and prevalence of converted select fire firearms, but here this is no joke.

This was actually one of points of contest by the Czech Government - vz.58 properly converted under the Czech rules should be typically more complicated to reconvert to full auto than conducting illegal conversion of a rifle that was made as semi-auto from the beginning.

However, the major thing you can not get around are magazine restrictions, which is not that big of a problem for handguns as they are limited to 20 rounds, but a very big deal for long-guns which are limited to 10 rounds.

Well...

2. For the protection of the security of critical infrastructure, commercial shipping, high-value convoys and sensitive premises, as well as for national defence, educational, cultural, research and historical purposes, and without prejudice to paragraph 1, the national competent authorities may grant, in individual cases, exceptionally and in a duly reasoned manner, authorisations for firearms, essential components and ammunition classified in category A where this is not contrary to public security or public order.

If everything goes as planned, this will be (alongside the sole jurisdiction provided in primary EU law) used in the Czech Republic in order to grant permit to anyone who will sign up as a member of the militia. Given that we have unparalleled legislation and statistics as regards concealed carry, and given that the current national security strategy includes CCers as an important component of soft targets protection, the bar will be met.

Apart from issue of illegitimate encroachment on citizens' liberty, the Czech Government will fight the directive also due to practical reasons. There are probably hundreds of thousands of 30rds magazines in population and enforcement of a rule that rifle is A-OK when 10 round mag is inserted and VERBOTEN when 30 round mag is inserted would be a nightmare. Not to mention that it would take about 3 newspaper articles about gun confiscation due to the mag size and the next morning police stations will be filled up with people reporting their guns lost during boat fishing incidents.

In Austria, our current government has told us, nothing will change except for the magazine restrictions (we already have outlawed "easily convertables", which in reality means, you have to switch out 2 parts and you are good to go as a manufacturer...), but the elections have been moved up a year to this fall - so we will see, what the next government looks like.

Well from what I know Czech Republic is unparalleled in Europe as regards the proportion of semi-auto to other firearms among gun owners, which is currently about 50:50 with semi-auto ownership rising fast and bolt action and other slowly declining. Maybe that is why you Austrians have a feeling not much will change.

Here buying a converted vz.58 and/or vz.61 and/or ZB.30-37 and/or UK.59 is considered as the right introduction to the world of guns once the new owner has bought his obligatory first CZ 75/Glock/1911/revolver.
 
Sorry, I have not been precise enough - the part about convertability is included in the "explanation" section, not in the actual amendment. You are correct, the amendment itself only outlaws converted firearms.
As I have stated - it is up to the government, if they want to find a workaround, they can. I certainly hope, the "militia-approach" will work out for you.

In Austria, semi-autos are very commen nowadays (althouhg they have not been common for a long time) - however the reason there won't be that much of a change is not the low proportion of semi-autos but the existing laws. Converted select-fire-rifles are already outlawed and the market is geared towards newly manufactured semi-autos. If converted select-fires are very common in the CR, you are certainly much more affected by the directive, which makes the "workaround" and the dedication of the government to it even more important!

As for the magazine restrictions - I am really curious how that will turn out. As I have explained at some point, when we had the "pump-action-ban" in Austria, compliance rate was about 5 to 7 percent. It am sure, the compliance rate with magazine bans will be even lower, as there is no record of magazine sales.

As far as I understand it, there is also the possibility of granting licenses to own converted semi-autos and magazines over the 10 / 20 limit to target shooters, as long as they are members of a shooting club and take part in competitions. Of course we know, the whole thing is BS and I certainly hope the lawsuit of the CR will work out - but even if it does not, there still is room to work with for the national government
 
Sorry, I have not been precise enough - the part about convertability is included in the "explanation" section, not in the actual amendment. You are correct, the amendment itself only outlaws converted firearms.
The recital is not legally binding. It may be used for interpretation of the legal text in case that the binding part leaves any room for interpretation. That is not the case here. ECJ has repeatedly held that recitals may not be used to override the law.

As for the magazine restrictions - I am really curious how that will turn out. As I have explained at some point, when we had the "pump-action-ban" in Austria, compliance rate was about 5 to 7 percent. It am sure, the compliance rate with magazine bans will be even lower, as there is no record of magazine sales.

3. Member States shall ensure that an authorisation to acquire and an authorisation to possess a firearm classified in category B shall be withdrawn if the person who was granted that authorisation is found to be in possession of a loading device apt to be fitted to centre-fire semi-automatic firearms or repeating firearms, which:

(a)

can hold more than 20 rounds; or

(b)

in the case of long firearms, can hold more than 10 rounds,

unless that person has been granted an authorisation under Article 6 or an authorisation which has been confirmed, renewed or prolonged under Article 7(4a).

Well let's say that this part of the law was probably drafted by some of our good friends from German government that have had experience with policing compliance of the population while they used to work for Stasi.

As far as I understand it, there is also the possibility of granting licenses to own converted semi-autos and magazines over the 10 / 20 limit to target shooters, as long as they are members of a shooting club and take part in competitions. Of course we know, the whole thing is BS and I certainly hope the lawsuit of the CR will work out

This part is actually drafted in a way very similar to our Communist dictatorship rules of getting hold of firearm. Just that the apparatchick and local bureau are superseded by a recognized sporting roganization. First of all F them, second of all, this de-facto obligatory membership of organization in order to be eligible for certain privilege is unconstitutional in my country - exactly because we had to live with that S for 40 years.

I certainly hope, the "militia-approach" will work out for you.

The militia part is mostly just to be sure.

Primary approach is the reliance on national security being in sole jurisdiction of the country and our 2,75% CC rate of adult population making firearm ownership very much core of the national security agenda at the time of lone wolf attacks against soft targets.

The suit is just icing on the cake that will allow politicians to postpone any decision on implementation.

Meanwhile, quite an important development is happening on another front. Macron is pushing Brussels to start punishing Central European states for failing to comply with immigration quota. He is mistaking our refusal for mere reluctance. I can only hope that EU will start pushing hard before the Czech Autumn election. There is no way they can whip us to accept the migrants, and if they use the whip on migrants they won't have effective cards to play on the firearms later.
 
A lot of the directive seems to be drafted closely to german gun laws in general, as they have things like required shooting club membership for 12 months etc. already in place. Even for newly acquired magazines, it is a load of unnecessary and in practice unmanagable administrative work, let alone the magazines currently in possession of the people. How the heck are you going to manage licensing for un-serialized items with continous monitoring? There is simply no way to find out who has them apart from searching houses, and even that won't work..

The wording of the directive additionally will lead to a bunch of lawsuits - just think of 9mm carbines accepting Glock mags. Do these mags qualify as "loading device for long firearms"? You can bet there will be judges somewhere who rule that way.
 
UPDATE:

The proposal was debated in the Constitutional Committee of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament.

11 Yay
0 Nay
1 Abstention

The Amendment proposal will now go back to the plenary. Next plenary session starts on 26 June.
 
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My EU Gun Ban shopping spree is almost complete. (all semi-auto only)

What is the deal with Savage MSR 10 Long Range? The one I ordered should have been delivered in February, but no shipments reached the Republic yet. Are they selling so well in US that Savage just keeps postponing exports?
 
Snejdarek

Thanks for the update. I would love to have one or two of your newly acquired guns, even if they are semi-auto only.
 
@RoscoeBryant

The Government will hold a vote to decide whether to lodge the suit against the EU Gun Ban on Wednesday. It has now been already drafted and lodging it seems to be only formality. On the other hand I am a bit disappointed by the fact that it seems it was written by their own "legal experts" and they didn't outsource it from any major law firm with experience in European Court of Justice suits.

Meanwhile, interesting decision was taken today on a different issue. In past months, the EU Commission has threatened to start punishing states that are not accepting migrants from Greece and Italy under the quota system. One of the first international comments by Macron after being elected was that countries like Poland and the Czech Republic must either accept migrants, or be swiftly punished.

The Czech Republic has so far not been refusing migrants, the official position was that we will accept them only after thorough background check. First Greece and Italy were refusing to cooperate and were only expecting that we will just take a trainload of surprise the way Germany is accepting them. After some time they started cooperating and allowed Czech officials to visit the migrant camps and start investigating. However, the migrants never waited until the end of the proceedings (usually 3 months) and typically left the camp of their own accord. Out of our quota of 2.600, only 12 were accepted.

Today, after the EU and French threats, the government made official decision to pull out of the migrant quota system and pledged not to accept a single one migrant more under the system. (rules on asylum applications by those that reach the Czech Republic and ask for asylum are unaffected)
 
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UPDATE:

Constitutional amendment
The Constitutional Amendment went through second reading in the Chamber of Deputies of Parliament, which was uneventful, especially compared to first reading's 57 MPs entries into the debate. Which also means that the opposition will mos probably save their energy for the 3rd (final) reading.

Important sidenote: Nobody proposed amendments of the amendment as a means to confuse the debate. Also nobody came forward to propose vote to reject the amendment in the second reading.

While the chances of passing in the Chamber of Deputies seem to be high (especially with many ANO MPs breaking party lines and supporting the proposal), Senate vote remains quite unpredictable.

Suit to ECJ
Government shall hold a vote on filing the suit next week instead of today. Minister of Justice (ANO) today voiced his opposition to such action, it seems that Social Democrats (8 government posts) want to use the week to convince ANO (6) or Christian Democrats (3) ministers to break party lines and support filing of the suit.

On a personal note I fear that the lack of support by Ministry of Justice may mean serious quality deficit for the suit (which was drafted by Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff).

Militia exception
Ministry of Interior has previously voiced (with no specifics) intent to establish a voluntary militia that would allow gun owners to benefit from the militia exception in the Directive (which was primarily intended to cover existing militias in Finland and Estonia). Now Ministry of Defense (ANO) seems to be working on its own similar proposal, probably with intent to calm their party members who may feel that the party is by large and far too EU complicit on the issue.
 
Here you can find main points regarding EU Gun Ban: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Firearms_Directive#Content

@RoscoeBryant please let me know if I left anything important out.

Thank you for updating these pages, I really like the work you're doing. I saw nothing important being left out!
As for the militia exception - would that be a realistic approach? According to the directive, a state must have had the practice of transferering firearms to militia members in place for 50 years, which would not be the case in CZ as far is I know?

On the issue you mentioned earlier - great to hear about the "other side", as the reports in english and german are pretty streamlined sadly. In media reports, I only saw single sided views about the comission launching a suit for breach of contract against CZ, PL and HU, but no mention of the CZ-government wanting to cooperate and being obstructed by Greece and Italy. Who knows why...
 
According to the directive, a state must have had the practice of transferring firearms to militia members in place for 50 years, which would not be the case in CZ as far is I know?
Does it need to be a direct transfer to "militia members"? As I understand it, there are a great many surplus military firearms (vz. 58, etc.) that are now owned by Czech citizens... I wonder if that could somehow be used to satisfy that requirement?
 
Does it need to be a direct transfer to "militia members"? As I understand it, there are a great many surplus military firearms (vz. 58, etc.) that are now owned by Czech citizens... I wonder if that could somehow be used to satisfy that requirement?

The problem that I see with that (not me personally - naturally - but regarding the directive) is, that those firearms are owned by citizens themselves. If the firearms were owned by the governement (de jure - de facto they could be in posession of individuals), they would not be affected by the directive. However for privately owned firearms, the directive opens the possibility for member states to grant individuals the license to own a cat. A firearm for the purpose of protection of sensitive premises, critical infrastructure or national defense in general, but limitis it to "individual cases, exceptionally and in a duly reasoned manner". So it comes down to a) the national parliaments decision on how exactly to frame the law and b) the view of the comission on the national law. If the commission does not find the law to be satisfactory (which I am relatively certain of - they do not like strong national governments...), than ultimately the courts will decide.
 
On the account that Juncker is known for his love affair with alcohol, is the face of gun ban and the Czech gun owners never received any reply from the European Commission office in the Czech Republic...

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This package was sent to him to Brussels today. The AK is a bottle filled with Cognac, it was sent with a letter asking him to finally reply why the Commission failed to conduct impact assessment when it proposed the EU Gun Ban and why the EU legislative procedure is now mostly taking the route of Trialog, closed door meetings between representatives of the Commission, Council and Parliament followed by first reading acceptance of proposed laws with no public debate nor record of the meetings.
 
As for the militia exception - would that be a realistic approach? According to the directive, a state must have had the practice of transferering firearms to militia members in place for 50 years, which would not be the case in CZ as far is I know?

The Czech plan is not to rely on the Swiss militia exception, rather to rely on the combo of the Primary EU law (treaties) exception for national security and exception in he gun ban directive that relates to the security purposes, i.e. Article 6(2) of the Directive:

For the protection of the security of critical infrastructure, commercial shipping, high-value convoys and sensitive premises, as well as for national defence, educational, cultural, research and historical purposes, and without prejudice to paragraph 1, the national competent authorities may grant, in individual cases, exceptionally and in a duly reasoned manner, authorisations for firearms, essential components and ammunition classified in category A where this is not contrary to public security or public order.

And of the Treaty on the European Union:
Art. 4(2): The Union shall respect the equality of Member States before the Treaties as well as their national identities, inherent in their fundamental structures, political and constitutional, inclusive of regional and local self-government. It shall respect their essential State functions, including ensuring the territorial integrity of the State, maintaining law and order and safeguarding national security. In particular, national security remains the sole responsibility of each Member State.

And the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union:

Art. 72: This Title shall not affect the exercise of the responsibilities incumbent upon Member States with regard to the maintenance of law and order and the safeguarding of internal security.
Art. 276: In exercising its powers regarding the provisions of Chapters 4 and 5 of Title V of Part Three relating to the area of freedom, security and justice, the Court of Justice of the European Union shall have no jurisdiction to review the validity or proportionality of operations carried out by the police or other law-enforcement services of a Member State or the exercise of the responsibilities incumbent upon Member States with regard to the maintenance of law and order and the safeguarding of internal security.

I.e. the argument is that our shall issue concealed carry system with large number of licenses having been issued puts the Czech Republic in unique position to allow us to claim that gun owners are essential part of safeguarding internal security and thus outside of scope of authority of EU law altogether. Failing that, then the argument stands they have all been issued respective authorization under Art 6(2) of the Directive.

Which is better than Swiss solution, because:
1) It allows for national rules regarding all A cat firearms (the Swiss exemption covers only full-autos changed into semi-autos - not PDW and not magazine limitation - which will hopefully create s--tstorm once the Swiss realize that).
2) Might actually lead to relaxing of rules for A cat firearms in general (wishful thinking, ain't gonna happen).

In reality it all hangs upon the autumn election. The new law will be drafted by new government. Having the Constitutional Amendment passed would be great in that it would put higher requirements on the new government. But in any case - if get pro-gun government, they will use threat of terrorism as excuse to cut corners around the Directive (and appeal to voters), if anti-gun, they will use Directive as excuse to tighten the screws.

A scenario that may not be unlikely would be government striking informal deal with Commission - Czech Republic takes back the suit and Commission let's us slide with our own interpretation of Directive implementation. I don't think that Commission could risk having the Directive stricken down as it is it's flagship in fight against terrorism.

On the issue you mentioned earlier - great to hear about the "other side", as the reports in english and german are pretty streamlined sadly. In media reports, I only saw single sided views about the comission launching a suit for breach of contract against CZ, PL and HU, but no mention of the CZ-government wanting to cooperate and being obstructed by Greece and Italy. Who knows why...

Well to be fair I wouldn't suspect our government to be overly cooperative in that matter either. But the fact is that the two countries failed to provide any assistance at all. Their idea was: here is a train with 2.000 people, take them and don't ask any questions. Thanks but no thanks.

Oh, did you hear that one that most of the migrants accepted under quota system to Luxembourg are ... nobody knows where in the EU, but definitely not in Luxembourg?

Oh, did you hear that out of the first airplane with 80 Christians that the Czech Republic voluntarily flew from Iraq and gave them asylum, 40 ran to Germany within a month, and 20 of those actually received asylum therein (leading to premature cancellation of the Iraqi asylum Christians system)?

Oh, did you hear that up to 400 refugees were supposed to be moved to the Czech Republic from camps in Jordan, but when Obama administration announced it will be accepting refugees, all of those pre-selected by Czech officials canceled their applications and filed for US (red cross allowed only one country choice), leading to premature cancellation of the system?

I could go on but I think I went off topic quite enough.

Anyway, good news at the end: Estonia, which will chair the EU presidency for the next half-a-year, already voiced its opposition against the Commission's plan to sanction Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary for the quota refusal. We will see if Germany will be able to whip the Estonians as effectively as they managed with Slovaks.

Does it need to be a direct transfer to "militia members"? As I understand it, there are a great many surplus military firearms (vz. 58, etc.) that are now owned by Czech citizens... I wonder if that could somehow be used to satisfy that requirement?

This is the wording:

As regards firearms classified in point 6 of category A, Member States applying a military system based on general conscription and having in place over the last 50 years a system of transfer of military firearms to persons leaving the army after fulfilling their military duties may grant to those persons, in their capacity as a target shooter, an authorisation to keep one firearm used during the mandatory military period. The relevant public authority shall transform those firearms into semi-automatic firearms and shall periodically check that the persons using such firearms do not represent a risk to public security. The provisions set out in points (a), (b) and (c) of the first subparagraph shall apply.

There is no other state than Switzerland in Europe meeting this requirement. And yes, it has to be transfer of military firearms to persons leaving army after fulfilling military duties.

We abolished conscription in 2003, most people getting their vz.58 now have never served.

Last but not least: Despite the fact that the grandfathering clause closed yesterday:

Member States may decide to confirm, renew or prolong authorisations for semi-automatic firearms classified in point 6, 7 or 8 of category A in respect of a firearm which was classified in category B, and lawfully acquired and registered, before 13 June 2017, subject to the other conditions laid down in this Directive. Furthermore, Member States may allow such firearms to be acquired by other persons authorised by Member States in accordance with this Directive, as amended by Directive (EU) 2017/853 of the European Parliament and of the Council

gun shops are reporting that the gun buying spree end is nowhere in sight. Even if anti-gun government gets into power after autumn election, this will put them into precarious position. Quite clearly they can't risk sticking to the Directive grandfathering deadline even if they wish to. If for not other reason than because the 40.000 cops can't cope with 100.000 people coming to stations in the same morning and filing all their guns lost (presuming that only 1/3 would pissed enough to do that).
 
I definetly see that approach working with shall-issue carry permits (which certainly will be under threat in the future), but I have doubts about it working for cat.A licensing. As the directive states the mentioned "(...)in individual cases, exceptionally (...)" a general licensing for any A6 and A7 firearm for anyone who signs up is unlikely to be accepted. The argument, that cat. A firearms in general are the base of national security and therefore not subject to the directive is also kind of far reaching (from a legal perspective, which sadly more than often has nothing to do with the logical perspective), as the directive is directly geared towards those firearms.
The most likely scenario in my opinion is either the one you mentioned about a "deal" with the comission (which they will certainly try to keep as low key as possible) or a victory in court in the long run. However, I am by no means an expert on these kinds of things, so I might be completely wrong as well...
 
regarding the individuality and exceptionality of cat A licensing - Finland has declared an intent of granting 400 thousand exceptions based on Article 6(2)
 
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