Czech parliment moves to strengthen gun rights

[Totem Polar]

Lower parliment passes ammendment to Czech constitution by wide margin; gun rights bill expected to pass upper house as well.

The move by parliament is a challenge to EU gun control rules which restrict civilians from possessing certain kinds of semi-automatic weapons.
The EU argues its move is a much-needed counter-terrorism measure.
But the Czech parliament took a different view, arguing that allowing people to bear arms enables them to defend themselves against terrorism.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40438378

:cool:

[P30]

Cool for the Czechs, I'm glad for them. Not mentioned in German mainstream news at all though CZ is a neighbour country. Would not fit in the selective image of the world that MSM want us to believe ("Guns in the hands of civilians are evil and possess them like demons. Only US American people have guns and that's why they have a civil war twice per day in every state.")

[OlongJohnson]

http://texasalmanac.com/topics/culture/czech/czech-texans

[Mitch]

I looked into gun laws in the Czech Republic out of curiosity after I got my CZ. I was surprised, that place seems better in that regard than some US states.


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[OlongJohnson]

Taking it to the courts.

Czech Republic fights EU over plans to tighten gun ownership laws (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/10/czech-republic-fights-eu-plans-tighten-gun-ownership-laws/)


Matthew Day, in warsaw
10 AUGUST 2017 • 3:37PM
The Czech Republic has filed a law suit against the EU over plans by Brussels to tighten gun ownership that Prague claims could threaten national security and will undermine trust in the EU.

Aiming to make it harder for terrorists to get access to guns in Europe an EU directive passed in March introduces tighter restrictions on the ownership of semi-automatic weapons, new regulations on deactivated guns and make it easier to trace firearms.

Brussels has argued the new measures will help counter the threat of terrorism in Europe but they have left the Czech government and gun owners up in arms.

Boasting some of the most liberal gun laws in Europe the Czech Republic has about 800,000 legally held weapons in a population of just 10 million, so the directive has stirred up fierce opposition and led to the government filing a lawsuit against the EU in the European Court of Justice.

“Such a massive punishment of decent arms holders is unacceptable because banning legally-held weapons has no connection with the fight against terrorism,” Milan Chovanec, the Czech interior minister, said in a statement.

“This is not only a nonsensical decision once again undermining people’s trust in the EU, but implementing the directive could also have a negative impact on the internal security of the Czech Republic because a large number of weapons could move to the black market.”

Czechs can own a gun, including semi-automatics, if they have no criminal record, are deemed a “reliable character,” are in good health and have passed theoretical and practical firearms tests.

The country also permits 240,000 gun owners to carry a concealed weapon for defensive use.

The government claims the directive could affect up to 300,000 firearm holders, in particular, and also claims many of the directive’s provisions are vague and unclear.

In what has been regarded as another challenge to the EU the Central-European country has moved to alter its constitution to allow gun owners to use their weapons during a terrorist attack.

[okie john]

I think that a lot of Europeans are getting tired of the New World Order emanating from Brussels. The EU has some value in managing trade, but is far too inclined to get into things that are none of its business. Between Brexit and things like this, I think that a lot of Europeans would throw out the baby with the bathwater to be rid of it.

The EU needs to focus on economic issues and let individual nations handle their own civil rights if it wants to survive.


Okie John

[P30]

I think that a lot of Europeans are getting tired of the New World Order emanating from Brussels.
Full agreement here from Germany. And I'm tired of Merkel, too.

[Totem Polar]

The Prague set seems to have a bit of an uphill battle, not because they don't have a case—what with their constitutional amendments and all—but because they are now a minority culture, as whole generations in surrounding areas have grown up seeing all weapons as evil.

I gotta say, as a guy who grew up in, and lives in, E WA, I feel empathy. Given how this former libertarian-esque paradise is now constantly bumping up against overpopulated, crowd-sourced nincompoopery emanating from the west side of the state (and west coast in general), I live and feel the parallels. I wish the Czechs all the best in maintaining a bit of autonomy.

[LittleLebowski]

So much like.

[P30]

The Prague set seems to have a bit of an uphill battle [...] because they are now a minority culture, as whole generations in surrounding areas have grown up seeing all weapons as evil.
The disarmament of the people is not pushed by the people directly. Most people in Germany don't care about legally owned firearms. They have other problems, until there is a school shooting (2002 and 2009). Then the disarmament of the people is pushed by the mainstream media. I'm not sure who pushes the mainstream media to do so. Probably the owners, the big advertising customers and some other bigwigs they meet at Bilderberg conferences etc. (see Chomsky's propaganda model (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_model#The_filters)).

Only indirectly it's pushed by the people: There are human parrots who stupidly repeat everything the big media say without thinking by themselves.

[45dotACP]

Soooo.....Czexit?

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[LOKNLOD]

Soooo.....Czexit?

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51st State?

[P30]

Oh, no, I want to keep them as freedom fighters in the EU.

Most Germans don't dare to fight for their rights. If they try, they are always called "Nazi" or "Waffennarr" (gun nut) by the mainstream media and give up. Even worse, they are already conditioned that this will happen. So they don't even start to defend their rights. So we need the brave Czechs.

I'm not joking, it's like that. I'm not proud of it.

[OlongJohnson]

So here's the really f'ed up part: (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20170308IPR65677/parliament-approves-revised-eu-gun-law-to-close-security-loopholes)


“Over the past 18 months I and colleagues across this Parliament have worked with many different stakeholders, as well as law enforcement authorities, proof houses and legal experts, in order to protect the interests of legitimate owners whilst also addressing the security issues. The Parliament text has made many significant improvements. The changes that we have now agreed will close the loophole and be an important contribution to our security, whilst also respecting the rights of legal owners”, said Vicky Ford (ECR, UK), who steered this legislation through Parliament.

So even after the Brexit vote, in which her countrymen chose sovereignty and an end to the invasive overbearingness of the EU, this British gun grabber (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicky_Ford) went on afflicting the rest of the countries remaining in the union with this loathsome burden of totalitarianism.

I'm sure she didn't intend it to be the poison pill on the way out the door that it certainly is.

[That Guy]

I think you've misunderstood the role Vicky Ford played in that process. She was the chairman of the legislation process, not the original author of the legislation. The proposal for the new legislation came from the EU Commission.

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[P30]

Brussel's politics is far away for most Europeans. The ordinary people have no influence there, rarely see how politics is made there, but we often notice the crappy results that we get from there.

That said, my impression as a German: Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the EU commission, was much worse in this weapons legislation process than Vicky Ford (for the European peoples). As far as I remember, the first legislative proposal by the EU commission would have banned self-loading rifles. This was rejected by the EU parliament. Vicky Ford was a bit helpful in the process, too, at least she had an open ear for representatives of the legal firearm owners.