Plans to keep tighter control on weapons

The Home Affairs Ministry will be announcing amendments to the legislation regulating the possession, access to, and use of weapons in the coming year.

"An internal process has started to analyse all existing legislation regulating firearms. This internal process is nearing its end and the ministry will shortly start consulting with the relevant stakeholders... with a view to publishing the amendments in the coming year," a ministry spokesman told The Sunday Times.

In the wake of the shooting at the Mqabba Nationalist Party club last weekend, where a 31-year-old man opened fire on a group of people with a hunting shotgun, and following two murders earlier this month, questions were raised on whether revising the weapons regulations was necessary.

According to police historian Eddie Attard, violence with guns is increasing. Four out of five homicides in Malta this year involved guns. Mr Attard was in the process of researching the use of guns in homicides in Malta and has gathered data up to the year 2000.

There were two murders involving hunting shotguns in 1995, three in 1996, and rising to five in 1999. In 2000, three people were killed by hunting shotguns.

These figures excluded those cases where hunting shotguns were used to intimidate people or where the shooting did not result in a killing, as happened in Mqabba last week.

"In this day and age, I can buy a hunting shotgun for 'sport' as an excuse to have a firearm at home. Why are there so many people owning hunting shotguns and why are new ones being licensed when the sport is being restricted? Hunting guns are treated almost like toys," said Mr Attard, who is a former member of the police force.

The process to acquire a hunting shotgun licence is surprisingly simple. Any person over 18 years can apply by filling out a form at the dealer or the police. If the person has a clean police conduct he will be asked to attend a training course at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority.

The focus of the course is to understand what birds can be shot and when. It is suitably called an Environment Test, rather than a weapons-handling course.

Once the person can identify the birds from the bees, a licence is issued by the police. The whole process takes about a month, according to the police's weapons department.

One further condition is membership to a hunting club that provides insurance against a fee.

The hunters' federation, states on its website that there are some 12,000 hunters in Malta, which implies at least an equal amount of hunting shotguns on the island, excluding those unregistered.

As an incentive to increase membership registrations in 2009, the FKNK is offering a lottery ticket with every €5 donation - the prize is a semi-automatic shotgun.

The licensing process of sporting shotguns in the UK, in comparison, includes home visits by the police, background checks, and may even include medical checks to ensure mental well-being to determine whether the applicant is likely to pose a threat to public safety.

The rules that govern licensing and ownership of shotguns in Malta are less stringent for hunters than they are for other weapon holders. Arms Licensing Regulations were already revised in 2006.

Steve Petroni, president of the Association of Maltese Arms Collectors and Shooters and member of the Weapons Board that processes applications for licensing, was involved in the drafting of the revised regulations. He insisted: "Our Arms Act provides the ideal platform for proper police control.

"Under the old regime, anyone with a clean police conduct could acquire a firearm. Now, one has to qualify for a licence, which regulates the activity he wishes to take up," he added.

Asked whether he believed harsher penalties were required to stamp out abuse, he said, "the new law includes provision for harsh penalties; enforcement is the issue". The problem he identified was in the application of standards.

Anybody wanting to be licensed to possess a weapon must go through a club membership procedure and undergo a training course and test.

"Clubs should prepare applicants to the best of their abilities but the test should be conducted by the authorities," he insisted.

According to Mr Petroni, the problem of guns and crime in Malta is related to unlicensed guns: "Recent shootings have again confirmed that the persons who committed these acts were in possession of unregistered firearms."

The existing Arms Act has moved away from licensing guns to licensing people. Each person with a Target Shooter A licence can own up to 10 pieces.

According to figures seen by The Sunday Times, there are about 570 people owning such licences. The number of female applicants is also on the increase.