An Italian lawmaker is currently under investigation after bringing a loaded gun to a New Year’s Eve party in the town of Rosazza, in northern Italy, which fired a shot that injured a 31-year-old man.
Emanuele Pozzolo, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, admitted bringing the .22 calibre mini-revolver – a North American Arms LR22 – that fired the shot but denied firing the shot himself, saying that someone else must have gotten hold of the firearm.
Pozzolo, 38, claimed that the shot was fired by the same man who got injured, whom he said picked up the gun from the floor after he had accidentally dropped it. But Italian news media report that it would have been difficult for the man to shoot himself in the back of the thigh if things had happened the way Pozzolo said they had.
Several witnesses told Italian news media, including La Repubblica, that the lawmaker appeared “allegro” – a word which in Italian means happy but it’s generally used to mean “tipsy” – and was showing the gun to those attending the party. One witness told authorities that Pozzolo was holding the gun when the shot was fired – an incriminating testimony which would be taken into consideration by investigators.
The party was attended by several families, including children, according to witnesses.
The injured man, Luca Campana, was treated at the hospital and is not in critical condition, but was given a 10-day recovery period. He has not yet sued anyone – including Pozzolo – for the damage suffered. Campana is the son-in-law of a member of Andrea Delmastro’s security team. Delmastro is a junior justice minister and a member of Brothers of Italy.
The Italian member of Parliament, who had previously declared to be a pro-gun activist, had a regular firearm licence – the only legal way for anyone in Italy to have a firearm. This same licence was removed after the New Year’s Eve accident.
Pozzolo has regularly declared he is in favour of the right of citizens to bear arms for self-defence, though Italy has strong gun legislation for civilians. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the controversial lawmaker often spoke against vaccinations, declaring himself to be a no-vax – or anti-vaxxer.
He was elected as MP in 2022, at the same time when his party, Brothers of Italy, won the general election.
Right after the incident, Pozzolo refused to undergo the test that would have determined traces of gunpowder on his hands and clothes. Six hours after the incident, he agreed to have the test done on his hands, but refused to relinquish his clothes to authorities, calling for parliamentary immunity.
The case runs the risk of becoming political, as the centre-left opposition has pointed to Pozzolo as an example of the kind of people within Meloni’s ruling party and called on her to take action against the MP. The prime minister, on the other hand, has appeared furious in the aftermath of the incident.
“Here there are people who haven’t understood what their role is,” Meloni said, according to the newspaper Corriere. “There are some members of Parliament and senators who think they’re on holiday,” she added. “And they cause damage, they make us look unreliable.”
The prime minister also condemned the “folly” of Pozzolo in taking a gun to a New Year’s Eve party.
