Belmonte Mezzagno: CGA returns firearms permit to mafia relative: “Does not associate with them”

The Administrative Justice Council has returned to a man from Belmonte Mezzagno (Palermo) the firearms license that had been revoked because he was related to members of the mafia. The measure was taken by the Prefecture of Palermo and the 60-year-old applicant had challenged it at the Administrative Court and then before the appeals body. The withdrawal of the license to keep a hunting rifle and ammunition was based on a report from the Provincial Command of the Carabinieri of Palermo, which highlighted the lack of relationships between the man and his mafia-related relatives.

In the appeal, lawyers Girolamo Rubino and Daniele Piazza emphasized the illegitimacy of the ban on the possession of weapons, ammunition, and explosive materials, citing the absence of cohabitation or direct interaction between the sixty-year-old man and his relatives. Furthermore, they pointed out the lack of an investigative activity and the deficiency of motivation.

The Cga has established that “the mere fact of being related by blood or marriage to a convicted person, but not living together, is not, in itself and in the absence of other elements, indicative of an abuse of firearms, as the administration must evaluate and assess the impact of such circumstances on the judgment of reliability regarding the possession of firearms.”