French tabacs to sell gun ammunition in law change branded as ‘total madness’
Tobacconists in France will be allowed to sell hunting ammunition in the new year, in a move that critics have branded “total madness”.
Tabacs, of which there are more than 23,300 across the country, half of them in small towns, will first have to obtain a specialist certificate and approval from relevant authorities.
The French interior ministry said the change in the law would help prevent people from stockpiling munitions, having them delivered - which is legal - and driving a long way to buy them.
The move, expected to come into effect from Jan 1, will reduce the need for large-scale storage and the sale of ammunition by post which the interior ministry says has caused problems.
Customers will be required to show age identification and proof of their hunting or shooting licence before purchase of munitions.
Tabac owners must take a two-day exam and seek approval from the mayor and relevant authorities who will assess their “competence” as vendors.
Only two types of munitions - Category C and D - will be available for sale in the licensed tabac shops. The former, mainly used for hunting, includes shotgun shells, smoothbore cartridges and carbine ammunition.
‘Like going to a pharmacy to buy tobacco’
Some have voiced concern about the change.
Rubens Abbosh, the owner of gun shop Aux Armes de Diane, in Seine-et-Marne, called the plan “total madness”.
He told Le Parisien: “A gun shop has to have surveillance cameras, a safe, electric metal shutters and a remote surveillance system that responds more quickly than those of other businesses.”
The number of gun shops has fallen in recent years meaning some hunters have to travel further to purchase their munitions.
Jean-Claude Legrand, a hunter in the Gard, told newspaper The Connexion the move could be beneficial to those who live some distance from armourers.
But, he countered, most people buy ammunition only once for the hunting season, adding that the policy “doesn’t seem very coherent”.
“It’s like going to a pharmacy to buy tobacco,” he said.
Others also questioned the policy and suitability of tabac shops as vendors.
French animal welfare group L214 said: “It seems so crazy it is hard to believe. The hunting lobby is really not ashamed of anything.”
The National Committee Against Smoking alleged that “two out of three tobacconists continue to sell tobacco to minors completely illegally”.
The French interior ministry was approached for comment.
