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5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 MAY 2020 NEWS Yorgen Fenech. Right: murder suspect Alfred Degiorgio rejects Yorgen Fenech for continuation of compilation of evidence presence of media personnel. This could not be entirely mit- igated by hearing witnesses by video conferencing, said the judge, explaining that an entire digital logistics infrastructure was required to hold sittings re- motely. After taking into account the element of urgency and the public interest in the compila- tion of evidence on one hand and the delicate situation and risk of spreading illness, as well as the exceptional and tempo- rary nature of the public health emergency on the other, the judge denied the requests for the opening of the registry and the continuation of the compilation of evidence. Murder suspect on hunger strike Daphne Caruana Galizia mur- der suspect Alfred Degiorgio 'il-Fulu' has gone on hunger strike inside Corradino Cor- rectional Facility in protest at having to go to court during the COVID-19 crisis, a source told MaltaToday. A sitting in the compilation of evidence against Degiorgio, his brother George Degiorgio 'ic-Ciniz' and Vince Muscat 'il-Kohhu' is due to be held on Monday, after the courts upheld an objection by Muscat to the final submissions being made in writing. But sources said Degiorgio complained that he felt discrim- inated against because his case was being heard whilst all other cases were suspended because of the COVID-19 crisis. The accused, who has spent the past two months on COV- ID-19 lockdown in prison, has been unable to see his family for this time. "He is arguing that he did not object to the prison measures as they were intended to protect inmates, but if he was not going to be allowed to see his family because of the coronavi- rus, then it did not make sense to bring him to court and expose him to potential infection," the source said. This is the second hunger strike by Degiorgio this year. In February, Degiorgio refused food after the prison authorities ordered that he and his brother George be locked in their cells for 25-hour stretches to avoid conflict with another inmate, David Norbert Schembri. De- giorgio had ended that hunger strike three days later, his de- mands remaining unmet. Degiorgio's demands are the complete opposite of those be- ing made by fellow inmate and alleged mastermind Yorgen Fenech. In an application filed on 8 April, Fenech insisted on the continuation of his proceed- ings. 130,000 firearms in Malta (and two rocket launchers) PAUL COCKS TWO rocket launchers, 28 cannons, four mortars and 565 general purpose machine guns… This is not the sum of the arsenal in the Armed Forc- es of Malta's inventory, but on- ly a small fraction of registered firearms in private hands. Because by the end 2019, there were 129,423 firearms registered, an increase of near- ly 27,000 in just two years. In 2017, there were 102,610 fire- arms registered in private col- lections. More than 66,000 of the reg- istered firearms are shotguns used for hunting and target shooting, but a number of items stand out. Amongst these are the two rocket launchers and 28 can- nons, but also 11 walking sticks concealing firearms, four hand cannons, 1,023 tactical shot- guns and 18,992 pistols. Other modern firearms also include 705 submachine guns, 17,241 rifles, 7,552 revolvers and 42 assault rifles. More historic items in pri- vate collections include 115 black powder revolvers, 19 blunderbusses, 217 flintlock muskets, 459 flintlock pis- tols, 221 muskets, 1,391 muz- zle-loading guns and 763 per- cussion cap pistols. An increase in the number of people getting registered as license holders without nec- essarily buying a firearm, has been recorded in the past three years. This is because under the Arms Act, as in the case of a driving license, it is the indi- vidual that gets licensed, not the firearm. Also on the increase is the number of people attending shooting ranges even without holding a license. Unlicensed visitors can un- dergo a range and firearm safety tutorial and go on to live shooting on the ranges. One range owner told MaltaToday he had recorded a marked in- crease in the number of day bookings by individuals and groups who are not licensed. Pistol shooting is the most popular among unlicensed visitors, probably because it is the easiest to master, as well as having more facilities available than other firearms. MaltaToday has learnt that there are some 39,143 regis- tered firearm licence-holders in Malta, many of them having more than one licence. The Arms Act of 2005 and the Arms Licensing Regula- tions of 2006 define various categories of arms and the activities for which they may be kept and/or used. The act focuses on the licence holder and not on the firearm, and in- sists on the mandatory mem- bership and endorsement of a club before one can apply for a licence. The Target Shooter Licence A allows for both the keeping and use of firearms with rifled barrels, such as pistols, rifles and machine guns, for target shooting sport only. The Tar- get Shooter B Licence caters for target shooting with fire- arms that had already been allowed under the old Arms Ordinance, such as shotguns, air guns and muzzle loaders. Holders of Collector Licence A can keep any number of firearms manufactured before 1946 or which are considered to be rare, artistic or histori- cal. They can also keep up to 10 handguns and rifles which are of post-1945 manufacture as well as any number of shot- guns, muzzleloaders and air guns. The Collector Licence B is for those who were already licensed under the previous Arms Ordinance for collection purposes only. Before a person can apply for a firearm licence, they must join a shooting or collectors club for training. The club must then issue a recommendation letter for the applicant to present to the po- lice, who will then check the applicant's records and refer him to a Weapons Board test to verify the applicant's knowl- edge of firearm safety and the Arms Act (Chapter 480) and related ordinances. Only if an applicant success- fully completes each step of the process, is he then issued with a target shooter or collec- tor licence.