36,000 firearms registered for hunting

35,984 firearms were registered for hunting purposes by the end of 2014, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela revealed. 8,641 of these guns were registered for both hunting and target shooter purposes.

He was responding to a parliamentary question by Opposition MP Ryan Callus.

In 2013, 34,098 firearms were registered for hunting purposes, 8,039 of which were registered for both hunting and target shooting purposes.

Abela added that 20,460 firearms were registered for collection purposes and 9,031 for sole target shooting purposes by the end of 2014.

In response to further parliamentary questions by Callus, Abela revealed that 31,655 firearm licenses were issued in 2014, yielding the government a total of €872,342 in license fees.  

10,811 of these licenses were issued for the hunting of birds over the ground, while 265 of them were for the hunting of birds over the sea, and 2,675 for the hunting of wild rabbits.