An attempt by the Dutch EU presidency to ban reproductions of antique firearms has been slammed as "draconian" and a distraction by the European hunters' federation. 

Slamming the idea as "its last bid to close the deal before the end of the semester," the European Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation (FACE) said that, if successful, the change would clog up national registration systems and needlessly shackle gun owners.

The proposal would see the firearms category D eliminated entirely and an exception for reproductions of antique weapons - defined as single shot firearms loaded from the muzzle - removed from the text of the EU's Firearms Directive. 

It would also limit magazine sizes and oblige sports shooters to be a member of a shooting organisation to register as a participant in competitions. 

The Dutch proposal would affect 12 million people who legally own such guns in France, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Italy. 

FACE said that the proposal had nothing to do with terrorism or public safety, as some of its proponents have claimed.

"Criminals using Kalashnikovs and arms dealers who supply terrorists on the black market will not be affected by these new constraints which exclusively hit honest citizens, legal owners of single-shot reproductions of antique firearms," it said.