Response to email to Fine Gael regarding C. Flannagan

fishdog

I emailed sevral Fine Gael TDs regarding Charlie Flanagan's remarks in the papers recently. I recieved this today:


XXXXXXX,

My apologies for the delay in replying but I am just back from holidays.

I have had a brief discussion with Mr. Flanagan with regard to the issue you have raised.
To clarify, Mr. Flanagan neither believes nor is he insinuating that legally held hand guns are being used by criminals.
In fact, he would be the first to acknowledge that holders of hand gun licences are very responsible members of society.
However the statistics show that over 200,000 hand guns are in circulation in the state, the overwhelming majority of which are illegally held and being put to criminal use, sometimes with devastating consequences.

Regards
Andrew


Andrew.Doyle@oireachtas.ie

dresden8

fishdog wrote: »

over 200,000 hand guns are in circulation in the state,

Dear God. There is no hope.

Sikamick

fishdog wrote: »

I emailed sevral Fine Gael TDs regarding Charlie Flanagan's remarks in the papers recently. I recieved this today:


XXXXXXX,

My apologies for the delay in replying but I am just back from holidays.

I have had a brief discussion with Mr. Flanagan with regard to the issue you have raised.
To clarify, Mr. Flanagan neither believes nor is he insinuating that legally held hand guns are being used by criminals.
In fact, he would be the first to acknowledge that holders of hand gun licences are very responsible members of society.
However the statistics show that over 200,000 hand guns are in circulation in the state, the overwhelming majority of which are illegally held and being put to criminal use, sometimes with devastating consequences.

Regards
Andrew


Andrew.Doyle@oireachtas.ie

__________________________________________________________________


Is this a misquote 200,000, by A Doyle or is it the total number firearms in the country counting legal and illegal ????? puzzled.

Sikamick

Sparks

200,000 illegally held handguns seperate from the 225,000 legally held firearms?
What's his source?

marlin vs

Gd help us, Flanagan or Doyle don't seem to have a clue.

Sika_Stalker

fishdog wrote: »

However the statistics show that over 200,000 hand guns are in circulation in the state, the overwhelming majority of which are illegally held

where is he getting the statistics from id love to know how they know about every illegally held hand gun in circulation

fishdog

What's his source?

I will email him back and ask, but I dont think I will get a reply!

Why dont a few more of you email him too???

rrpc

I know Andrew Doyle personally, and a nicer guy you couldn't meet. Perhaps if you give me the text of the original statement from Flanagan and your email, I could follow it up with him?

cantona

One of our members(a firearms dealer) was invited onto Highland Radio(Donegal) last week with 5 minutes notice and a list of questions/Agenda ( for some reason, not adhered to)to a debate with forementioned Flanagan. I am still awaiting transcript/recording (lost/mislaid/not recorded) from Highland but according to Northern sources, Flanagan still running, and can't be found

Vegeta

rrpc wrote: »

I know Andrew Doyle personally, and a nicer guy you couldn't meet. Perhaps if you give me the text of the original statement from Flanagan and your email, I could follow it up with him?

This sounds like a very good idea

Sikamick

One wonders when you look at the postings on this thread re Flanagan/Doyle and that of other threads re firearms licensing renewals as to whether the powers that be have a clue (Lions lead by Donkeys).

200.000 Firearms? Question: How many firearms are in use by the Garda and Army combined, would it be at the same level or above that quoted by A Doyle.

Sikamick

Sikamick

I have just received this below from a friend, maybe we deserve the leaders we choose.
________________________________________________________________
Proud To Be 'Oirish' !

Being Irish is all about driving in a German car to a pub, watching English football, then traveling home, grabbing an Indian Tikka Masala, Chinese chicken curry or a Turkish kebab on the way, to sit on Swedish furniture and watch American TV shows on a Japanese TV.

And the most Irish thing of all? .....The suspicion of all things foreign!

Some amazing 'Oirish' facts !!!

1. Only in Ireland can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

2. Only in Ireland do supermarkets make sick people walk all the way to the back of the shop to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

3. Only in Ireland do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries and a DIET coke.

4. Only in Ireland do banks leave both doors open and chain the pens to the counters.

5. Only in Ireland do we leave cars worth thousands of EUR's on the drive and lock our junk and cheap lawn mower in the garage.

6. Only in Ireland do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.

7. Only in Ireland would there be disabled parking places in front of the ice-skating rink in Smithfield, Dublin.

Grizzly 45

Slightly OT,but quite revelant RE mr Flannagan.Couple of days ago in the Indo.He was calling for the Gardai to be able search and random drug test people at private house parties without the need of a search warrent,on the word of a Superintendant!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek::eek::eek::eek:.
Now,I dont know about everyones feelings about drugs,nor is it revelant.
What I am concerned about is that there is a politican out there calling for [1] restrictions on legally held firearms,and doesnt seem to have a clue about his statistics,or what he is on about and [2] is basically calling for giving the police powers onlyheard of in Nazi Germany or some other totalitarian state Hell hole!!

So consider this option applying to a ligit gun owner.You are away ,your teenage kids hold a party,and play the music abit loudly.Ms Biddy Curtaintwitcher across the road rings the Gaurds and complains about the young fellahs and they look stoned and are proably doing drugs.Good enough for Mr Super,out come the Gaurds,test all and sundry,maybe.maybe not they find somthing and check your house for illegal substances.They find out you own firearms and confiscate them,as your premises was used for drug dealing or useage.Good luck trying to get your liscense and good name cleared again without alot of time and money....:(
Hopefully this will never happen,and the Gardai have said so as well.But I do think we have to keep an eye on Mr Flannagan.If he comes up with this sort of wild and dangerous nonsense under the guise of law and order in the opposition.God alone knows what he could do if in power!

Sparks

Sikamick wrote: »

7. Only in Ireland would there be disabled parking places in front of the ice-skating rink in Smithfield, Dublin.

Erm, the skating rink in Smithfield is a temporary thing built every year - right next to the children's court, which the disabled parking is for. I know it's a list of funny things, but a bit more effort needed for that one

Sikamick

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Hopefully this will never happen,and the Gardai have said so as well.But I do think we have to keep an eye on Mr Flannagan.If he comes up with this sort of wild and dangerous nonsense under the guise of law and order in the opposition.God alone knows what he could do if in power!

___________________________________________________________________

Grizzly45, You have the law of Physics and then you have Murphy's Law, if it can happen it will happen.

Sikamick

Sikamick

Sparks wrote: »

Erm, the skating rink in Smithfield is a temporary thing built every year - right next to the children's court, which the disabled parking is for. I know it's a list of funny things, but a bit more effort needed for that one

____________________________________________________________________

Sparks not mine, just passed it on from a friend but it is a fairly accurate view of us and maybe that is why people from around the world like the Irish people.

Sikamick

Jonty

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Slightly OT,but quite revelant RE mr Flannagan.Couple of days ago in the Indo.He was calling for the Gardai to be able search and random drug test people at private house parties without the need of a search warrent,on the word of a Superintendant!!!!!!!!!!!!!:eek::eek::eek::eek:.
Now,I dont know about everyones feelings about drugs,nor is it revelant.
What I am concerned about is that there is a politican out there calling for [1] restrictions on legally held firearms,and doesnt seem to have a clue about his statistics,or what he is on about and [2] is basically calling for giving the police powers onlyheard of in Nazi Germany or some other totalitarian state Hell hole!!

So consider this option applying to a ligit gun owner.You are away ,your teenage kids hold a party,and play the music abit loudly.Ms Biddy Curtaintwitcher across the road rings the Gaurds and complains about the young fellahs and they look stoned and are proably doing drugs.Good enough for Mr Super,out come the Gaurds,test all and sundry,maybe.maybe not they find somthing and check your house for illegal substances.They find out you own firearms and confiscate them,as your premises was used for drug dealing or useage.Good luck trying to get your liscense and good name cleared again without alot of time and money....:(
Hopefully this will never happen,and the Gardai have said so as well.But I do think we have to keep an eye on Mr Flannagan.If he comes up with this sort of wild and dangerous nonsense under the guise of law and order in the opposition.God alone knows what he could do if in power!

These Gestapo tactics again. I'd expect that from Oliver (Charlies Dad). Maybe the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree.

Sparks

I think that's already waaaaay too many violations of Godwin's law right there.
You cannot counter extremist claptrap like what Flannagan is coming out with by coming out with equally extremist-sounding stuff yourself. I know, the suggestions he's making really are totalitarian in nature, but a few quick points:

• Firstly, it's totalitarian, not fascist. There is a difference.
• Secondly, it's his "opinion", and frankly I doubt it's even that, it smells far more like a Myers column than a real opinion.
• Thirdly, he doesn't draft legislation or have any authoritity over the Gardai or any part of the state for that matter. And noone has any serious plans to give him authority over anything more influential than the TV remote control.
• Fourthly, this is just him trying to get publicity to assist his upcoming reelection and your responding to it in such an outraged fashion feeds that. Flanagan could care less about our needs; it's his own he's serving here. Don't respond to him, respond in the most level-headed and sane tones you can to the public he's talking to, and the muppetry will shine through.

meathstevie

On a practical note, does anyone honestly think that most members of An Garda want that kind of powers ?

I got to know a fair few cops over the years and most would definitly not be interested in having such far reaching powers and are quite happy with things as they are.

The only thing they'd want is a bit more prison space so the nuisances they get succesfully prosecuted are being put out of circulation for the time they're supposed to do.

For heaven's sake, if they have information that there's something seriously dodgy going on in a place the only thing they need to do is get the nearest peace commissioner out of the bed and let him sign a warrant. In that way they have the proper procedural cover at all time and some back up in case their suspecion was unfounded. Giving carte blanche would only encourage Donegal style Nottingham sherrif carry on from the few numbnuts dirty harry's in the force and believe me they're shunned by their fellow cops just as well as by the public because they're no addition to policing anywhere.

Voila, what's that for a sidetrack rant:o

As Sparks said, let TD Flanno rant and rave away. They less of an audience he's got the less success he gets. He seems to be well able to make an arse of himself without anyone's help. 200000 illegal handguns : God help us :rolleyes:

Our man in Havana

I for one shall never vote FG in LS/OY ever again.

ranger4

God help us all, most of them muppets in the dail live on another plannet.

Our man in Havana

Maybe we should as Capt. Billy Timmins for his opinion?

Grizzly 45

[Secondly, it's his "opinion", and frankly I doubt it's even that, it smells far more like a Myers column than a real opinion.

Nope,it was a report appx five days ago,on drug abuse and methods of countering societyuse of Coke..[Not Mr Myers,whom I thooughly enjoy].

Thirdly, he doesn't draft legislation or have any authoritity over the Gardai or any part of the state for that matter. And noone has any serious plans to give him authority over anything more influential than the TV remote control.

Thank GOD for that!!!Although I would question letting him in charge of that as well!:rolleyes:

Sparks

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Nope,it was a report appx five days ago,on drug abuse and methods of countering societyuse of Coke

Hold up. Either it's his idea or it's a suggestion from a report. Which is it?

Grizzly 45

It's a quote from a report, in the Indo of C Flanagan "calling" for this type of no warrent legislation to deal with the rise of cocaine usage in the middle classes,etc.Seeing that our current Min of Justice seems to be hot on this idea as well.

Found it; 25/08/08
Legal row to delay proposals on drug searches
by M Brennan.

Sparks

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

It's a quote from a report, in the Indo of C Flanagan "calling" for this type of no warrent legislation to deal with the rise of cocaine usage in the middle classes,etc.

So it's his opinion then. Only written down.

Right so.

Blue is nicer than Red.

There ye go, there's my report into comparative frequency analysis of various forms of electromagnetic radiation emmissions. Now, are we in danger of any legislation being drafted as a result of this report?


Seriously Grizzly, Gay Mitchell spent a few weeks once doing a report on how Ireland needed its own fighter squadron in case Al Quaeda suicide bombers took over an Aer Lingus flight out of Dublin Airport and flew it into Leinster House. Just because it's written down in a report doesn't always mean it's going to result in an invoice from Lockheed-Martin. Now, had the report been written by someone who was actually in charge of anything, we might have cause to worry (hence the worry over the Range Inspector position). But this is... well, hot air basicly. It's Flanagan trying to get on six-one to boost his public image.

fish slapped

have to agree with sparks. 20 year ago I used to attend a certian school and some of my classes were in a prefab. There was a report done back then by a local TD on class sizes and school conditions needing urgent upgrading. The same prefab is still being used today. The more reports and the more s**t these guys talk the more they feel they have justified their job and that is what it boils down to in the end JOB JUSTIFICATION.

Grizzly 45

There ye go, there's my report into comparative frequency analysis of various forms of electromagnetic radiation emmissions. Now, are we in danger of any legislation being drafted as a result of this report?

Proably now,since you mentioned it.The society of electromagnetic radiation emissions appreciation will take you up on it and demand red emissions in the spectrum will be regulated at once!!!!:D:D:D

Seriously Grizzly, Gay Mitchell spent a few weeks once doing a report on how Ireland needed its own fighter squadron in case Al Quaeda suicide bombers took over an Aer Lingus flight out of Dublin Airport and flew it into Leinster House.

Whilst that commendable idea and very civvic minded thought of AQ to the Irish people to do such does have it's attractions,and very unlikely.Mr Mitchell did have a point,our airforce is somwhat of a bad joke.Our fighter squadron is the only one that regressed to propellor,while everyone is in the jet age.However that doesnt mean we need a sqadron of F22 Raptors. [six or eight Harriers would be a better plane for here].But I concede your point.

Now, had the report been written by someone who was actually in charge of anything, we might have cause to worry (hence the worry over the Range Inspector position).

Why whats happened there???

But this is... well, hot air basicly. It's Flanagan trying to get on six-one to boost his public image.

Indeed ,however it gets dangerous when the blower stats beliving his own hot air and gets others to belive it.Especially when those in power are somwhat mystified by strange and ominious things like firearms.