Shooters, hunters and gun owners EU-wide are now tragically available how the consequences of the planned EU gun ban could be disastrous should the European Commission succeed in have its most restrictive proposals approved.
Even more evidence of the negative impact of an EU-wide sweeping restriction on firearms comes from France, as the website of the French national hunting federation published a study of the BIPE institute − a strategic and economic consultancy institute officially acknowledged by the French Ministry of Education and Research − concerning the social, economic and environmental impact of hunting in France.
Some aspects of the BIPE research will be published by Fall 2016, but the results already made available on the public, and based upon data gathered in the year 2014 and 2015, are adamantly clear: hunting and related activities generate a 3.6 billion Euros turnover, maintain 25800 full-time jobs (part-time jobs, satellite activities and the total number of family members maintained by the income of those workers has not been included in the tally), and hunters and members of hunting organizations engage in 28 million hours of volountary activities every year, mainly in the fields of game management and habitat protection − activities that have so far been considered almost a monopoly of so-called "environmentalist" and "animal rights" organizations.
The BIPE study also shows that 47% of French shooters are less than 55 years old, 2% of them are women, and 55% of them all can be considered intensely engaged in hunting practices.
Similar researches are currently being carried on in many other European Countries such as Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom; in the year 2011, the Urbino university published its study on the economic impact of the civilian firearms and ammunition sector in Italy.
So far, all studies seem to point out that the impact of the planned EU gun ban would be simply catastrophic for the European economy − particularly since the European Commission, the Dutch Presidency of the European Union, the EESC and some bodies of the European Council such as GENVAL don't seem interested in "limiting" their banning intentions to "politically-incorrect" modern sporting firearms, but are now dreaming of a broad-range ban that would align gun laws EU-wide to the draconian British model, imposing a ban on almost, if not all, handguns and semi-automatic long guns (including a vast majority of typically hunting-oriented guns), as well as on any firearm considered of "excessively high capacity", regardless of their working systems.
The civilian firearms and ammunition industry generates tens of billions of Euros in Europe each year, with virtually zero tax dodging or evasion, and maintains about half a million jobs in the European Union.
Despite this, the pro-ban organizations and government are unlikely to back off: they seem all too willing to cause irreparable damage to the gun industry and to the European economy as a whole if that's the price to pay to disarm law-abiding European citizens − since it's now adamantly clear how the planned EU gun ban will not make Europe safer against terror attacks, armed crime, armed violence, or mass shootings.
As we wrote before multiple times, it's up to all European gun owners − competition shooters, hunters, collectors, private security operators and simple enthusiasts − to stand together and keep up the pressure on the Members of the European Parliament, the European institutions and their national Governments and Parliaments to show them what the peoples of Europe really want, and that they will not forget who wants to strip law-abiding citizens of their gun rights!
Also on the same topic:
