EU plans to revise the Firearms Directive will have a negative impact on thousands of Maltese who legally own firearms for hunting, the FKNK said today.

The hunters' federation was referring to a recommendation by the European Council to the Commission to strengthen the fight against illegal trafficking of firearms by revising the EU Directive on firearms.

"Although the FKNK completely supports any effort to better control the illegal trafficking of firearms, it fears that any proposed amendments to the directive could be the result of malicious intentions of anti-hunting individuals and/or entities, the FKNK said

It said that two FKNK Council officials who sit on the local Weapons Board will be monitoring the situation in Brussels along with help from the Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation in the EU (FACE) "in order to safeguard the legal interests, rights and privileges of its members."

The federation did not detail what its concerns are about.

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation, in a statement earlier this month said the Directive is likely to be revised at the beginning of 2016 at the latest.  

BASC Council member Peter Glenser, a barrister practicing in this area of the law, said; “BASC supports efforts to combat illegal trafficking of firearms, but this is a complex area of the law. The danger of reopening the directive is that amendments could be moved that would be damaging to legitimate shooting sports. These can be malicious and sponsored by those who wish to damage shooting. There can also be proposals which, through ignorance, damage legitimate shooting while trying to improve the law. BASC will be vigilant and ensure that legitimate shooting in the UK is not damaged by this move.”