The government wants the sale and possession of gas alarm pistols to also be restricted in Belgium and Germany. Outgoing Minister of Justice and Security Foort van Oosten (VVD) will discuss this with his colleagues abroad. A spokesperson for the minister confirmed this NRC after reporting by RTL News.
“Converted gas and alarm weapons pose a great threat to security in our country,” writes Van Oosten. “Part of that problem is that they, in unbuilt form, are easy to buy across the border.” He says he wants to make it clear to his fellow ministers that these types of weapons “should always be subject to a permit, just like in the Netherlands.”
Counterfeit weapons
In the Netherlands, adults are allowed to own and use a gas alarm pistol, but only if the pistol is clearly recognizable as such. This is different in Belgium and Germany: there are alarm pistols for sale that look exactly like a ‘real’ 9mm pistol. These imitation weapons are also relatively easy to convert so that they can actually fire bullets.
The weapons also regularly appear in this form in the Netherlands. Like this used Delano G. used a converted gas pistol to shoot crime reporter Peter R. de Vries in Amsterdam in 2021. And the 15-year-old boy who was shot dead by the police in Capelle aan den IJssel last month also had a converted gas pistol with him.
The police say told RTL Nieuws that she does not know exactly how many converted gas and alarm pistols she confiscates each year. However, the police estimate that this concerns about 40 to 50 percent of the total number of small arms seized — that is about 4,000 per year.
European Firearms Directive
At the end of September, Van Oosten had already agreed in the House of Representatives to discuss the subject with his fellow ministers, after questions from GroenLinks-PvdA MP Songül Mutluer. When asked, Van Oosten says that he has now briefly discussed the subject with his Belgian counterpart Annelies Verlinden.
“We have agreed to discuss this further and would also like to involve our German colleagues in this,” said Van Oosten. “I want to discuss what agreements can be made about further restricting sales in our neighboring countries.” According to the minister, the European Firearms Directive offers “every possibility for this”.
Also read
The Netherlands is unique in Europe in its hunt for fake weapons
NEW: Give this item as a gift
As an NRC subscriber you can subscribe every month 10 articles give as a gift to someone without an NRC subscription. The recipient can read the article directly, without a paywall.