FESAC Board members, national delegates and observers met in the Wellington Room at the Royal Armouries on Friday 4 June for the Annual Conference. Chairman Stephen Petroni opened the meeting and thanked this year’s British hosts and in particular fellow board member Ken Hocking who organised the event. The Board members went through an extensive agenda after approving the Minutes of the previous conference that was held in Terni, Italy. Following a discussion addressing FESAC’s growth, set-up and plans for 2010/2011, the Board proceeded to hear the country delegates reports on the current situation in their respective countries. A report was also read regarding Article 10 of the UN Protocol that the EU’s JLS wants to transpose into a Regulation and which could have an adverse effect on firearms kept for collection purposes. At the end of the meeting the Board re-elected Stephen Petroni as Chairman, Albrecht Simon and Deputy Chairman, Hanny Spruijt as Secretary and Pit Kaiser as Treasurer. The day was concluded with a pleasant dinner on board a canal boat.
On Saturday 6 June participants were treated to a series of lectures at the Royal Armouries:
“The End of Armour” by Thom Richardson, Armouries staff
“The Birmingham Gun Trade” by Professor David Williams, Loughborough University,
“The Development of the Machine Gun” by Stewart Taylor, Member of HBSA
“The Royal Armouries” by Graham Rimer, Academic Head, Royal Armouries
These were followed by a tour of the Armouries during which participants could appreciate the exquisite exhibits and the methods used to display them. The day came to a fitting end with a banquet in the museum and an address by the Chairman, Graham Rimer and Ken Hocking.















