Terrorists have been able to make use of reconverted weapons but new rules aim to put an end to this. Yesterday the internal market committee approved an update of the EU firearms directive to ensure that any firearm which has been converted to firing blanks continues to be covered by EU law. UK ECR member Vicky Ford, the MEP responsible for steering the new rules through Parliament, said: “The goal of this legislation was to close the loophole that was exploited during the Paris attacks.”