I was never in Paris, but spent time in Lyon and St. Etienne. The French were wonderful to me. Not sure what exact restrictions are posted above, but, when I was there I met guys with wonderful gun collections. Hunting was mostly for really, really, rich people, but, there were several clays ranges in both towns.
Want a gun, buy a gun. Want ammunition, go to the store and get it. No questions or forms to screw with. That may have changed, but, it was more restrictive, here, at the time, to buy a gun than in France. The one taboo was military calibers, you couldn't own 45-70, 30-06, 9mm, .45, and some other useful calibers, but, there were plenty of others to choose from. .270, .280, and 300 Win mag were hot when I was there.
Some people I dealt with, in France, bent over backward to help me. One guy, the guy I did most of my business with, grew into a dishonest prick. There was another shyster, but, a former importer clued me in to his act, and I avoided him. I had more problems on my end, then with France, or, Frenchmen.
You don't have to look too hard to find American gunsmiths with poor reputations, or, work ethics, either. Just sayin'.
I've been told most of the gunshops in Paris simply are no more. The Muslim population in Paris is high, and France instituted some unwise immigration policies from former colonies, again, mostly Muslim. The French native population is among the most elderly in the world, and it was thought new immigrants would become skilled and industrious workers, get jobs, and assimilate, helping to support the welfare state.
This hasn't happened. Assimilation isn't what it once was.
Certainly, France was not alone in this mistake, Sweden and Germany have similar issues at the moment. The US had no legal immigration from 1924 until 1965, to allow the new immigrants to assimilate, and I suspect it would work again, here, or, there. That is all I'll say about that.
Best,
Ted
