Use fo gun safes

17HMR

Was a bit surprised to read on here recently of a "dawn raid" - Gardai showing up at 7am to inspect a gun safe....

I generally only lock up my guns if I'm leaving the house - they are "working guns" and I typically use them on and off through the day to control vermin (mainly corvids) when I'm around. Not that they are sitting on the kitchen table loaded ready to go or anything.... but they are out of the safe, unloaded upstairs.

What is the actual legal position on using a gun safe ? Are you supposed to keep you gun(s) under lock and key all them time and only take them out specifically to use them or is the safe there for secure storage when you're not in the house ?

Vegeta

17HMR wrote:

Was a bit surprised to read on here recently of a "dawn raid" - Gardai showing up at 7am to inspect a gun safe....

I generally only lock up my guns if I'm leaving the house - they are "working guns" and I typically use them on and off through the day to control vermin (mainly corvids) when I'm around. Not that they are sitting on the kitchen table loaded ready to go or anything.... but they are out of the safe, unloaded upstairs.

What is the actual legal position on using a gun safe ? Are you supposed to keep you gun(s) under lock and key all them time and only take them out specifically to use them or is the safe there for secure storage when you're not in the house ?

I have to say I am the exact same as this. I lock my guns away when there is no one at home so if a thief did break in he'd just take the whole safe anyway.

When I am at home however they are not in the safe, the ammo is. The guns are not.

When my brother got his first shotgun the Gardai told him he had to get a gun safe, this was about 1995. They also forced him to put the safe in an attic. They inspected this of course.

They stayed in it for about a week because of the nature of most attics it was cold and damp up there.

Sparks

17HMR wrote:

What is the actual legal position on using a gun safe ?

There isn't one, if you're being specific.

The official legal position right now is that the old section four is still in force until the Minister signs a Commencement Order, which I understand is due on November 1st. So right now, it's not a mandatory legal requirement to have a gun safe. When that commencement order is signed, it will become a mandatory legal requirement to have "secure storage" for a firearm; however, there's no definition of what that constitutes. Presumably, that's what the Commissioner's guidelines are for. And so far, we've heard precious little on what they will be. Also, there won't be any legal position on how and when that secure storage should be used, beyond the obvious requirements on carrying firearms in general.

Common sense, however, as opposed to the legal position (and there's a fair gap there), would say to get a gunsafe and keep the firearms in there when they're not actually being used. Solid common sense would say to have a seperate lockbox for the ammo and a seperate lockbox for the bolt or another component part of the firearm if possible. Of course, if it's a working gun being used during the day, that's not going to be terribly convienent, but they do make pretty decent rapid-access gunsafes for that kind of thing nowadays, so you could have the shotgun by the door, yet still securely locked away until needed.

On the whole "why should I have to do this" argument I've been hearing elsewhere of late, as an aside, I'd like to state my personal view on this - forget about the Gardai for a moment. Got kids in the house? Pay a fair bit for the firearms? Get a gun safe. Use it. There're more important things in this life to be worrying about.

Vegeta

I have to say I wouldn't mind getting a bigger newer gunsafe with quick access.

My brother put a 3 inch scratch in the stock of my last shotgun taking it out in haste.