European pro-gun groups are mobilizing against a new EU push to restrict the sale of firearms, claiming the proposal won't work as an anti-terrorism tool.

The groups, which are using an online petition as well as bulk emails targeted at EU policymakers, say measures proposed by the European Commission would punish hunters and sports enthusiasts but do little to restrict the ability of terrorists and criminals to obtain weapons.

The campaigns represent a new assertiveness for EU gun lobbies, which are far less powerful and visible than the National Rifle Association of America and which have traditionally focused on protecting the rights of hunters. While it's not likely the groups will be able to kill the legislation, it's clear they are already having an impact on the debate.

The Commission first called for new controls on the sale of automatic weapons after the Paris attacks last November, and reiterated them in the wake of the Brussels bombings earlier this month. The day after the Brussels attacks, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said a revision of the EU's firearms directive was one of several measures needed to boost security across the bloc.

But the pro-gun groups also renewed their opposition to the new measures, and set their sights on EU interior ministers who will consider whether to tighten firearm laws and ban some semi-automatic weapons in Europe.

The European pro-gun lobbying efforts still pale in comparison to the ability of the NRA to influence U.S. lawmakers.

Their efforts were enough to prompt Juncker to warn after the Brussels attacks that EU countries “should not yield to diverse lobbies.”

Interior ministers hope to finalize their version of the directive in June, and members of the internal market committee in the European Parliament are aiming for the same timetable. The debate is likely to heat up before then.

Vicky Ford, a British conservative MEP, said the text of the Commission proposal "is poorly drafted" and "needs a lot of work." Sources told POLITICO they expect an agreement on a final text by October this year.

The European pro-gun lobbying efforts still pale in comparison to the ability of the NRA to influence U.S. lawmakers. Last year, the NRA spent more than $20 million on lobbying and campaign contributions in the U.S., according the database Open Secrets. The organization does not disclose any activities in the EU.

By comparison, most EU hunting and sport shooting associations disclose lobbying costs of less than €10,000 per year. The largest group, the European Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation, known as FACE, has 11 lobbyists full-time and a budget of just under €1 million annually, according to the EU transparency register.

'Faceless and unelected Eurocrats'

The petition against the EU proposal has been signed by more than 315,000 people since being launched in November by a Belgian sport shooting activist. It has since been taken up as a lobbying tool by Firearms United, which calls itself a grassroots movement but discloses no lobbying spending at the EU level.

One of the group's activists, Katja Triebel, said it was founded in October 2013 "to fight against an EU gun ban" as policymakers began work a revision of the firearms directive first adopted in 1991.

[Segato] said there was little point in restricting access to semi-automatic weapons for hunters and sports shooters when most of the weapons obtained by terrorists come from the black market.

Triebel said the petition had attracted significant support even after the recent terror attacks because the Commission’s proposals were unrealistic and “stupid.” She said that some national pro-gun groups and associations of hunters, gun owners, collectors and manufacturers had pushed their members and clients to sign the petition.

Among the emails now circulating include some decrying “faceless and unelected Eurocrats wanting to take our guns.” Some EU officials complained about receiving emails with warnings about “faceless and unelected Eurocrats wanting to take our guns.”

Triebel said the emails were intended to shake-up lawmakers, but she denied Firearms United provided a template for every message sent to EU officials.

"Some of our activists are indeed pretty angry," said Triebel, "but we also think some pro gun reform [groups] also wrote some of those emails just to weaken our positions."

Another pro-gun group leading the charge in Brussels, FACE, is using a somewhat softer approach. The group opposes the Commission’s proposed tightening of gun laws, but its secretary general, Filippo Segato, said it was not trying to make it easy for anybody to obtain automatic weapons.

“We don’t use Kalashnikovs for hunting,” Segato said, adding that hunters fear the legislation is a first step to reining in semi-automatic firearms, which hunters say are often the weapon of choice for female and disabled hunters.

"Right now, the regulation is impacting the legal firearms market," Segato said, "like you are getting a speeding ticket even if you have a driving license."

He said there was little point in restricting access to semi-automatic weapons for hunters and sports shooters when most of the weapons obtained by terrorists come from the black market.

Commission pushes back

FACE, however, is keeping its distance from the petition, choosing instead to use such traditional lobbying tools as conferences, papers and face-to-face meetings with lawmakers.

An Vranckx, a researcher at the Group for Research and Information on Peace and Security think tank and member of a Commission expert group on the issue, said the EU executive body might have gone too far when it presented the proposal, stirring up opposition.

Along with banning certain weapons, the Commission proposals include a stronger exchange of information between national police forces.

"We wanted to make a surgical change and avoid arousing some lobbyist groups," Vranckx said.

But a Commission official defended the decision to launch the proposal and denied that the institution was reacting to the Paris attacks by putting unnecessary burdens on gun controls.

"The question of firearms is not limited to terrorist attacks," the Commission spokesperson said. "We cannot ignore that legal firearms have been used in other tragic events where children were killed in a school or young people massacred in a holiday camp. This directive is not about terrorism, but about firearms and public security."

The spokesperson added: "As always, we in the Commission are open to improvements to the text."

Automatic weapons were used in the Paris attacks of November 2015. They were also used in the January 2015 shootings in Paris when one of the attackers, Amedy Coulibaly, used a weapon that had been bought online and then reactivated.

Along with banning certain weapons, the Commission proposals include a stronger exchange of information between national police forces and a better tracing system for firearms bought online.