This 31 July the Italian Senate has approved a maxi-amendment to the Decree-Law n. 95 July 6, 2012 (the so-called “Spending Review”): in Article 23, subsection 12-sexiesdecies, a provision was inserted that gives the Italian National Proof House of Gardone Valtrompia the authority to verify whether any firearm produced, imported or marketed in Italy meets the requirements to be qualified as “common weapon” or “sporting weapon”.
The amendment is expected to be approved by the House in the coming days, thus becoming state law regulating the matter; a new legislative coordination was needed, since the recent abolition of the Italian “National Catalogue of Common Fire Arms”.
“The ANPAM - Associazione Nazionale Produttori Armi e Munizioni Sportive e Civili - Confindustria (National Association of Sports and Civilian Firearms and Ammunition Manufacturers) is satisfied with the ruling that confers this authority to the Italian National Proof House, ‒ said president Nicola Perrotti ‒ remembering, however, that the new rules must be interpreted in harmony with existing legislation and European Community law, in the sense of preventing illegal and unrequired market restrictions in the name of public safety”.
ANPAM also hopes that, having overcome the legislative uncertainty, competent authorities will immediately issue all necessary licenses and permits, therefore easing the amount of damage and losses that Italian manufacturers, importers and gunsmiths have so far suffered due to the market’s impasse. A trade that, AMPAM points out, features Italy as the first European manufacturer of sports and hunting weapons (covering about 60% of the European Community market) and the most important exporting country in the world of sporting and civilian firearms, and ammunition, thanks to exports figures touching 90% of national production, particularly towards the U.S. (about 45%). The trade, in the strict sense (manufacturers and suppliers) consists of: 2,264 companies, 11,358 employees and a turnover of € 486,338,624.
Anpam: “We hope that through the Article 23 amendment of the Spending Review competent authorities will soon resume issuing the necessary licenses to ease the ongoing stagnation of the Italian sporting weapon industry”
The business is comprised of small and medium sized enterprises (excluding a couple of large to medium manufacturers), very often of family businesses, and is based on a chain that unifies traditions of artisan excellence and craftsmanship to advanced technology facilities.
Direct evidence of how important the “Made in Italy” in firearms is in the world, can be witnessed in the London Olympic Games, in which a renewed success is expected in the supply of Target Shooting guns and ammunition, following the trend of the last two editions (Beijing 2008 and Athens 2004), in which every single medal was won using Italian sporting firearms.