Weapons: "Italy at gunpoint", laugh or cry? This is the reaction that the completely "alarmist" article of Repubblica on the situation of arms in Italy can provoke.
The editorial staff of Repubblica published yesterday, May 31, 2013, an article on the situation of arms in Italy entitled "Italy at gunpoint"; already the 70s crime film title portends the alarmist content concerning probably the only sector, that of the production of weapons, still active from an economic and employment point of view and which is recognized as being of excellence all over the world . From the beginning of the article it is easy to guess a total extraneousness, on the part of the author, to the world of weapons and to the whole sector which, however, he pretends to criticize with the sword.; such is the enthusiasm to give an alarming and disreputable vision of the Italian arms sector that without fear of error begins by confusing firearms with compressed air weapons, “Soft Air” (toys), of free sale.
In fact, the article reads about an unlikely skilled worker from a well-known arms factory who mechanically assembles the main parts of a Beretta 92 pistol "shooting them in bursts into each other's body", almost as if it were a robot in a tomato factory, up to the final result of a "hot and smoking" weapon. Soon after, however, we learn that the famous Beretta 92 semiautomatic pistol, a "jewel of the Beretta house", is equipped with a fearsome "8-shot drum magazine" and powered by a 2 "CO12 (compressed air!) Canister. grams ”(ed. this is the compressed air replica of the Beretta 92, free for sale, produced by Umarex under license from Beretta!). So armies and law enforcement agencies from all over the world, who have recognized the superiority of this Italian gun, have been fighting wars for years and fighting crime with "lethal" plastic pellets or sinkers for the sake of peace for all pacifists! ! What triggers even more hilarity is the sensationalism of the article with the questions: “Who will challenge you? And when the trigger retracts, what will happen? ", With the assumptions listed so far, I believe the answers may be:" It will be challenged by children and adults engaged in Soft Air disciplines for pure fun "and" When the trigger will retract the hit paper target it will have a small hole and at most, in the event of a fight in Soft Air battle, those who are hit will be defeated, reporting some redness on the skin if not well protected ”.
Bad preface for those who intend to discredit the Italian arms sector when very little is known about arms. Thus in the article we talk about clandestine weapons passing from mere statistics including Italian and foreign ones from Eastern Europe, to the most recent episodes of family and non-family tragedies, carried out with the use of weapons, legal and not, Italian and not. ; certainly could not miss the sensationalist reference to Luigi Preiti, the bomber of Palazzo Chigi who shot the Brigadier of the Carabinieri, Giuseppe Giangrande, with a clandestine pistol. How could not be missing, however, in the article in question another opportunity to say an obvious such as "Witnessing the birth of a gun is not like seeing a life, a car, a mozzarella blossom", remembering however that producers are not responsible of the use that is made of it and that any illicit use cannot be avoided by them, “The only hope you can place in this genesis is pure rhetoric. - we still read - That the tool remains unemployed. As long as possible ”and does not end up in the wrong hands or those of a“ Sunday Rambo ”.
Then follows a critique of the "more accessible", in this case synonymous with "easy", licensing of Porto d'Armi recalling that in recent years there has been a decrease in those for Personal Defense instead replaced by the Port of Arms licenses for sporting use and attributing this data to an avoidance by the Italians, of the checks carried out by the Authorities in order to have in any case weapon. We want to recall in recent years, precisely in the light of the serious facts that have sometimes been committed by weapons holders, that the Authorities have decided to "tighten their belts" on the issue of licenses, making the requirements for the issuance of licenses more restrictive and increasing the controls for owners; among the requisites required is the age of majority, a clean criminal record, a certification by qualified instructors of a shooting range on the good use and handling of weapons as well as safety regulations and last but not least, a certification of psychophysical fitness issued by an ASL structure, not to mention the checks carried out annually by the Authorities on the holders of weapons.
We also remember that often the Port of Arms for Sporting use is not chosen by enthusiasts because it is easier to achieve or because it requires fewer checks and requirements from the Authorities but simply because it is cheaper from the point of view of the taxes to be paid compared to a Port of Arms for hunting use for example, whose taxes in recent years have increased dramatically or even worse than a Port of Arms for personal defense that the Authorities release only in case of demonstrated need (see Special Sworn Guards , jewelers, jewelery representatives, etc.); the will of the legislators is to avoid that too many people can "carry" around a weapon freely, reducing this possibility to a single day spent at the shooting range or to those people who actually carry weapons for self-defense because of the work they do; it is good to remember that those who go to the shooting range can bring their own weapon from their home to the shooting range but are obliged to keep it unloaded and in the special case, certainly not in a holster as in a scene from Far West.
We do not want to comment on the definition of the Gardone Val Trompia journalist, as the "Stalingrad of the Alps" for the numerous arms factories and home to the best Italian arms manufacturers recognized worldwide, but this is what matters, what does it matter if the induced activity of Val Trompia alone reaches seven billion euros, giving work to thousands of families and thus managing to keep itself out of the crisis that instead grips every other sector. What matters apparently is that these factories produce weapons, deadly weapons that, according to the journalist, no one knows where they end up and whether they actually remain “at home in a drawer”, like an ornament.
Returning to the issue of licenses, we read in the article that Italian legislation is actually among the most advanced, confirmed by the President of ANPAM, Nicola Perrotti, but here comes the sensational alarmism and suddenly most of the holders of the more than 200 thousand Porto d'Armi licenses for sporting use are dismissed employees, frustrated lovers, boyfriends and betrayed husbands who suddenly take their gun, leave the house and turn into monsters; and so on we continue again with examples of murders, massacres and other tragic acts committed with the use of weapons by people who legally held them as holders of a Port of Arms license for Sporting Use, but that, as the author of the 'article, “Whole books could be filled”. Finally, the "due" and critical reference to the American model that causes so much sensation every day with its many cases of violence perpetrated with the use of weapons by ordinary citizens could not be missing.
The picture provided by the Repubblica article is as hallucinating as it is exaggerated and at times confusing as of someone who, pulling water at his mill, talks about something that he does not share criticizing it on the basis of striking examples useful to his cause but at the same time denoting a evident ignorance on the matter. So what we ask ourselves is how one can ever speak badly, throwing it into absolute disrepute, of something that is not known or worse that is known only by hearsay? We honestly don't know whether to laugh or cry.
1 June 2013
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