Commission Implementing Directive (EU) 2019/69 of 16 January 2019 laying down technical specifications for alarm and signal weapons under Council Directive 91/477/EEC on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons (Text with EEA relevance.)

Technical specifications

Article 1

Member States shall ensure that, in order not to be considered a firearm under Directive 91/477/EEC, devices with a cartridge holder which are designed to fire only blanks, irritants, other active substances or pyrotechnic signalling rounds are required to comply at all times with the technical specifications set out in the Annex to this Directive.

Checking compliance with the technical specifications

Article 2

1.   Member States shall ensure that devices of a kind referred to in Article 1 are subject to checks in order to determine their compliance with the technical specifications set out in the Annex. 2.   Member States shall cooperate with each other in carrying out the checks referred to in paragraph 1.

Exchange of information

Article 3

Upon request, a Member State shall provide another Member State with the results of the checks carried out by it in accordance with Article 2. For these purposes, each Member State shall designate at least one national focal point to provide such results, and shall communicate the contact details of the national focal point to the Commission.

Transposition provisions

Article 4

1.   Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 17 January 2020 at the latest. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof. When Member States adopt those measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States. 2.   Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

Entry into force

Article 5

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .

Addressees

Article 6

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

ANNEXSupplementary provisions

ANNEX Technical specifications for devices referred to in Article 1 1. The devices are such that they meet the following requirements: (a) they are capable of shooting pyrotechnic signalling rounds only if an adaptor at the muzzle is attached; (b) they have a durable device within the device that prevents the firing of cartridges loaded with single or multiple solid shots, solid bullets or solid projectiles; (c) they are designed for a cartridge listed in, and complying with the dimensions and other standards referred to in, Table VIII of the Tables of Dimensions of Cartridges and Chambers (TDCC) established by the Permanent International Commission for the Proof of Small Arms (C.I.P.), as that Table applies in the version in effect at the time of adoption of this Directive. 2. The devices are not capable of being modified through the use of ordinary tools to expel, or to become capable of being converted to expel, a shot, bullet or projectile by the action of a combustible propellant. 3. All essential components of the devices are such that they cannot be fitted or used as essential components of firearms. 4. Barrels of the devices are not capable of being removed or modified without significantly damaging or destroying the device. 5. In the case of devices with a barrel not exceeding 30 centimetres or whose overall length does not exceed 60 centimetres, the device incorporates irremovable barriers along the full length of the barrel such that a shot, bullet or projectile is not able to pass through the barrel by the action of a combustible propellant, and such that any free space left at the muzzle is no more than 1 cm in length. 6. In the case of devices not falling within point 5, the device incorporates irremovable barriers on at least one third of the barrel length such that a shot, bullet or projectile is not able to pass through the barrel by the action of a combustible propellant, and such that any free space left at the muzzle is no more than 1 cm in length. 7. In all cases, whether the device falls within point 5 or point 6, the first barrier in the barrel is placed as close as possible after the chamber of the device while allowing the expulsion of gases through exit holes. 8. For devices designed to fire only blanks, the barriers referred to in point 5 or point 6 wholly block the barrel apart from one or more exit holes for gas pressure. In addition, the barriers wholly block the barrel in such a way that no gas can be fired from the front of the device. 9. All barriers are permanent and incapable of being knocked out without destroying the chamber or barrel of the device. For devices designed to fire only blanks, the barriers are wholly made of a material which is resistant to being cut, drilled, bored or ground (or any similar process) and which has a minimum hardness of 700 HV 30 (according to the Vickers hardness test). For devices not covered by the second subparagraph of this point, the barriers are made of a material which is resistant to being cut, drilled, bored or ground (or any similar process) and which has a minimum hardness of 610 HV 30. The barrel may have a channel along its axis to enable the irritants or other active substances to be expelled from the device. In either case, the barriers are such that they prevent occurrence of the following: (a) creation or enlargement of a hole in the barrel along its axis; (b) removal of the barrel, except where the frame and chamber area of the device is rendered useless as a result of the removal, or where the integrity of the device is so compromised that it cannot be used to form the basis of a firearm without significant repair or addition. 10. The cartridge chamber and barrel are both offset or tilted or staggered in such a way as to prevent ammunition from being loaded in and fired from the device. In addition, in the case of revolver-type devices: (a) the cylinder chamber front openings are narrowed to ensure that bullets are blocked in the chamber; (b) those openings are offset to the chamber.