The maximum power for air rifles in France without some kind of license is 10 joules, which is just over 7 ft lbs (1 Joule = 0.737562149 ft lbs).

If you want to buy a .22 rimfire, you now require a hunting or shooting license - this is a new regulation brought in sometime late last year or early this year - before then you just showed some ID to prove you were over 18 and then went down to the local police station to let them know that you'd bought it .

I believe that the hunting license requires you to carry out a test showing that you can identify legitimate quarry species and are safe with handling a gun - I'm not sure what you have to do for a "Shooting license", which is presumably what you need if you are target shooting.

The big eye opener for me is that black powder guns (rifles and pistols) are in the same category as soft-air and BB guns - you just need to be over 18 to buy them - no license, notifying the police or anything.

There is also no legal requirement to keep these classes of guns in a cabinet, although it would seem sensible to do so.

I also have a friend who owns a house in France - when I found out about these rules last year, I immediately went out there and bought a CZ452 and a .44 black powder revolver, which I use for target shooting and plinking when I go over there to visit. Considerably easier than dealing with our crazy firearms laws!

For further information take a look here:
http://www.fusil-calais.com/legal/legal_01_en.asp

Ben