Cap. 480 Art. 2Interpretation.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

"airgun" means a short firearm or long firearm respectively, the discharge of which is made by means of air or gas compression;

''alarm and signal weapons'' means devices with a cartridge holder which are designed to fire only blanks, irritants, other active substances or pyrotechnic signalling rounds and which are not capable of being converted to expel a shot, bullet or projectile by the action of a combustible propellant;

"ammunition" means the assembled components of a cartridge, namely the shot or bullet, case primer and propellant for any firearm, but excludes pellets for an airgun, inert ammunition and ordinance; "ammunition with expanding projectiles" means any ammunition that is designed or adapted to expand on impact; "ammunition with explosive projectiles" means ammunition where the projectile contains a charge which explodes on impact, whether intended or designed for military use or otherwise;

"ammunition with incendiary projectiles" means ammunition for where the projectile contains a chemical mixture which bursts into flame on contact with the air or on impact, whether intended or designed for military use or otherwise; "antique weapon" means any arm proper manufactured before 1st January 1946 or such later year as the Minister may from time to time prescribe;

"armour piercing projectile" means ammunition for military use where the projectile is jacketed and has a penetrating hard core;

"arms proper" shall have the same meaning assigned to it by article 64 of the Criminal Code and shall include a firearm as defined in this article; "artistic weapon" means an arm proper embellished or designed in a manner which goes beyond its pure functional requirements and which has been recognised as such by the Board; "automatic firearm" means a firearm which reloads automatically "collector" means any natural or legal person dedicated to the gathering and conservation of firearms, essential components or ammunition for historical, cultural, scientific, technical, educational or heritage purposes, and who is licensed as such in terms of article 11;

"club" means an organisation that organises and carries out target shooting activities and is recognized as such by the Board and is licensed by the Commissioner for the purposes of this Act; "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Police;

"deactivated firearms" means firearms that have been rendered permanently unfit for use by deactivation in accordance with Commission Regulation 2015/2403 and any other relevant Commission instrument, ensuring that all essential components of the firearm in question have been rendered permanently inoperable and incapable of removal, replacement or modification in a manner that would permit the firearm to be reactivated in any way; "dealer" means any natural or legal person whose trade or business consists wholly or partly of either of the following:

(a) the trade, exchange, hiring out, storage or repair of firearms or essential components;

(b) the trade or exchange of ammunition; '' essential component'' means the barrel, the frame, the receiver, including both upper and lower receivers, where applicable, the slide, the cylinder, the bolt or the breech block, which, being separate objects, are included in the category of the firearms on which they are or are intended to be mounted; "firearm"means any portable barrelled weapon that expels, is designed to expel or may be converted to expel a shot, bullet or projectile by the action of a combustible propellant, unless such item falls under Schedule III, items 1, 3 or 4. An object shall be considered to be capable of being converted to expel a shot, bullet or projectile by the action of a combustible propellant if:

(a) it has the appearance of a firearm; and

(b) as a result of its construction or the material from which it is made, it can be so converted; "gunpowder" includes gunpowder, blackpowder, smokeless gun powder and all other types of propellants; "gunsmith" means any person whose trade or business consists wholly or in part in making, repairing, restoring, manufacturing, altering, modifying or converting firearms;

"historical weapon" means any arm proper used in an important historical event or by any historical personage and classified as such by the Commissioner on the advice of the Board; illicitly trafficked;

(b) without an authorisation issued in accordance with regulation 7A of the Firearms and Ammunition

(Movement in Member States and Other Matters) Regulations by a competent authority of the Member State where the manufacture or assembly takes place; or

(c) without marking firearms at the time of manufacture in accordance with regulation 7A of theFirearms and Ammunition (Movement in Member States and Other

Matters) Regulations;

''illicit trafficking'' means the acquisition, sale, delivery, movement or transfer of firearms, their essential components or ammunition from or through the territory of one Member State to that of another Member State if any one of the Member States concerned does not authorise such transfer in accordance with applicable European Union legislation or if the firearms, essential components or ammunition are not marked in accordance with regulation 7A of the Firearms and Ammunition (Movement in Member States and Other Matters) Regulations; "long firearm" means any firearm with a barrel which is more than thirty centimetres in length or with an overall length of more than sixty centimetres; "martial art weapon" means any weapon used in any of the martial arts requiring registration in terms of the provisions of this Act;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for the Police; ''museum'' means a permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches and exhibits firearms, essential components or ammunition for historical, cultural, scientific, technical, educational, heritage or recreational purposes, and recognised as such by the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage. A museum open by appointment or access to which is subject to prior identification shall be considered to be open to the public; "paint ball activity" means any activity in which special purpose weapons using compressed air or gas, specifically designed to discharge frangible projectiles containing a colour dye used for target marking or designation; "possession" shall include carrying, holding, using, controlling and, or having effective control of; "premises" includes any appurtenance thereof;

"rare weapon" means any arm proper which is no longer manufactured and the availability of which is so limited that it makes it rare, including patent experimental models, certified as "resident"means a resident of the country indicated by the address appearing on an official document showing his place of residence, such as a passport or a national identity card, which, on a check on acquisition or on possession, is submitted to the Commissioner or to a dealer. If a person's address does not appear on his passport or national identity card, his country of residence shall be determined on the basis of any other official proof of residence recognised by the Commissioner; ''salute and acoustic weapons'' means firearms specifically converted for the sole use of firing blanks, for use such as in theatre performances, photographic sessions, film and television recordings, historical re-enactments, parades, sporting events and training;

"semi-automatic firearm" means a firearm which reloads automatically each time a round is fired and which can fire only one round with one pull on the trigger; "short firearm" means any firearm with a barrel which is not more than thirty centimetres long or with an overall length of not more than sixty centimetres with its stock folded or removed if so provided; "single-shot firearm" means a firearm with no magazine which is loaded before each shot by the manual insertion of a round into the chamber or loading recess at the breech of the barrel;

"sporting activity" includes hunting, target shooting, and paintball activity;

"target shooting" means any sport in which shooting sessions involving firearms are held at approved indoor or outdoor ranges but excludes hunting, as set out in this Act. ''tracing'' means the systematic tracking of firearms and, where possible, their essential components and ammunition from manufacturer to purchaser for the purpose of assisting the competent authorities of Member States in detecting, investigating and analysing illicit manufacturing and illicit trafficking.