14A. (1) A person who, unless—

(a) permitted by the Firearms Acts 1925 to 2023, or

(b) otherwise in accordance with law,

intentionally falsifies, removes, or otherwise obliterates or alters the marking of a firearm shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

(a) if the firearm referred to in subsection (1) is a restricted firearm—

(i) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years or to both,

or

(b) in any other case—

(i) on summary conviction, to a class C fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.

(3) In this section—

"Act of 1968" means the Firearms (Proofing) Act 1968;

"marking of a firearm" means—

(a) a mark to which section 4(1)(a) of the Act of 1968 refers,

(b) a mark to which section 4(1)(b) of the Act of 1968 refers,

(c) a mark to which section 3(12) refers,

(d) a mark provided for by regulations made in accordance with section 26A(c),

(e) a mark to which Article 5 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2403 of 15 December 2015¹ establishing common guidelines on deactivation standards and techniques for ensuring that deactivated firearms are rendered irreversibly inoperable, as amended by Article 1(3) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/337 of 5 March 2018² amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2403 establishing common guidelines on deactivation standards and techniques for ensuring that deactivated firearms are rendered irreversibly inoperable, refers,

(f) a mark to which Regulation 5 of the Principal Regulations refers,

(g) a mark to which Regulation 6 of the Principal Regulations refers, or

(h) a mark to which Regulation 7 of the Principal Regulations refers;

"Principal Regulations" means the European Union (Acquisition and Possession of Weapons and Ammunition) Regulations 2022 ( S.I. No. 209 of 2022).]