EU takes aim at trafficking of illicit firearms

Illicit firearms pose a grave risk to public safety, fuelling terrorism, organised crime, gang violence and other serious offences. In the EU, it is currently difficult to combat firearms trafficking, given that current EU rules only cover the legal ownership and transfer of firearms. There are also significant differences in how firearms related offences are defined and punished across countries. That is why the Commission has proposed new EU-wide rules to effectively tackle trafficking and other firearms-related offences.

The proposal will help to harmonise rules and efforts across EU countries and improve the effectiveness of law enforcement against firearms-related crimes by

• introducing EU-wide common definitions of firearms offences and penalties – covering everything from trafficking, to falsifying mandatory markings, to the illicit use of blueprints for 3D printing of firearms
• supporting stronger cooperation between EU countries – each country will have to establish a National Firearms Focal Point to coordinate this cross-border cooperation
• improving the collection and use of data – including establishing a dataset to register seized firearms, and requiring EU countries to gather and share data related to firearms offences every five years.

This new proposal is the first to be adopted under the European internal security strategy, ProtectEU. It will make investigations and prosecutions more effective and reinforce law enforcement's ability to respond to emerging threats, which will in turn help to better protect citizens. 

For more information

Press release – Commission proposes EU-wide rules against the trafficking of illicit firearms

Factsheet

Trafficking in firearms