Press Clippings

Rovi

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0121/strabane.html

Mother and child held captive in Tyrone
Wednesday, 21 January 2009 15:52

A family in Co Tyrone was held captive overnight while a man was forced to drive across the border and hand over a cache of legally held weapons.

The incident began last night when two masked men forced their way into a house in the Castlegrange area of Strabane.

A woman and young child in the house were held captive by the intruders while the woman's boyfriend, who is in his mid-30s and originally from the Republic, was forced to drive over the border into Co Donegal with up to ten legally-held weapons.

He was ordered to drive to Castlefinn, where the weapons were handed over to assailants in the car park of a chapel at Corcullion.

After the guns were handed over the masked men left the house in Strabane in a white Vauxhall Astra car belonging to the victim.

It was later found abandoned in Co Donegal.

The woman and child were left shocked but unhurt by their ordeal.

Also:
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhsnojojidid/
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0121/breaking43.htm
http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/woman-and-child-held-hostage-by-co-tyrone-raiders-1609178.html
http://www.herald.ie/breaking-news/national-news/woman-and-child-held-hostage-by-co-tyrone-raiders-1609178.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7842175.stm

Rovi

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishexaminer/pages/story.aspx-qqqg=ireland-qqqm=ireland-qqqa=ireland-qqqid=82538-qqqx=1.asp
Relevant sections highlighted in bold.

Only 21 convictions out of 161 gun murders in past 10 years

By Jennifer Hough

ONLY 21 convictions for gun murders have been secured in the past 10 years despite 161 gun-related killings during the period.

No one was jailed for gun-related deaths in 2007 or 2008, and convictions have fallen from a high of five in 2004 to two in both 2005 and 2006.

The highest number of gun murders was in 2006, at 26, while the year with the least number was 1998, with just four.

Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan said the number of convictions was a “very poor record” and underlines that Government policy is grossly insufficient.


He called on Justice Minister Dermot Ahern to convene a top-level meeting with all stakeholders.

“What we need is a multi-faceted approach led by the minister for justice and Garda commissioner together with the court services and the president of the High Court.

“The system is not working and the Government is lacking the will and ability to dismantle criminal activity.”

Mr Flanagan said there should be “relentless policing” with gardaí working and living in communities, adding that, “people need to feel protected from intimidation”.

Meanwhile, a criminal law specialist has said legislative measures taken following Shane Geoghegan’s murder will have little or no effect on gangland crime.

Diarmuid Griffin, a criminal law lecturer at NUI Galway said there appeared to be “a great deal of confusion” surrounding legislative provisions and judicial rulings in the area of firearms legislation.

Mr Griffin said rather than introducing reactionary measures like those following the killing of the Limerick rugby player last year, legislation already in place should be utilised.

“It makes no sense to introduce new measures when provisions in the 2006 act have yet to be activated,” he said, writing in last month’s Law Gazette.

“Part 5 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 has already introduced a new framework for licensing. Unfortunately, many of its provisions have yet to be brought into force.”

Mr Griffin added that new provisions dealing with the licensing of firearms will in no way tackle the circulation of illegal firearms.

“It is these non-licensed firearms that are being used by those involved in organised or gangland crime,” he added.

According to the Department of Justice, under Operation Anvil up to the end of November last year, about 1,200 firearms were recovered in Dublin and 1,000 in the rest of the country.

Rovi

http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/sport/Shooter-David-and-gunsmith-John.4951258.jp

Shooter David and gunsmith John aim to conquer the World

Published Date: 05 February 2009

"You see, this whole exercise is a partnership really between John and I," David explained. "John builds the firearms. They are magnificent specimens. I bring all my competitive edge to t"(sic)

NOT ALL success stories in sport in Kilkenny, or anywhere else for that matter, follow the norm. There are high profile activities, reasonably known sports and then there are the ones people rarely hear about.

In Kilkenny we have been blessed with a hugely impressive list of magnificent achievers within and outside the national and international arena. However, we chanced upon a man, living in South Kilkenny, who reckoned that he has a mighty good chance of winning a World title for the county and the country in the upcoming World rifle-shooting championships in the home of International Shooting in famed Bisley.

For security reasons we do not think it expedient to disclose the man's exact location, except to say that his name is David Comerford. He was born in Barry, South Wales, of Irish parents, and he has been living in this country for the past 45 years.

One must confess that other than Derek Burnett, one had as much knowledge about rifle shooting as a competitive sport as the Leitrim hurlers would have about organising a celebration after the winning of the Liam McCarthy Cup.

One has seen the television pictures of lads - aye, and ladies too - lying on their tummies as they lined up distant targets, miniscule in dimension, before squeezing triggers and awaiting confirmation, or otherwise, from a commentator as to the end result. Over the years, this little country turned to our shooters, whose names we didn't know, as big hopes for winning medals at Olympic Games. The national papers drip-fed information, the repetition of which sounded so convincing that people felt sufficiently knowledgeable to be able to engage in deep conversation about shooting come Olympics time.

David and John a double act
We became veritable James Bonds when snippets of the shooting competition, with an Irish involvement, were flashed across our screens. As a veritable dunce when it comes to discussing, or even pontificating about the sport of competitive shooting, it surprised me to hear from David Comerford that Ireland's first Olympic gold medal was won by a shooter, 61-year-old, Gerry Millner, who represented this country at the London Olympics in 1908.

In point of fact, when David Comerford goes to the World Championships in July, he will have as his personal rabbit's foot, in his gun case, an Irish Times account of the Millner achievement back in those heady days.

We met with David Comerford, who insisted that his gunsmith should also be part of the story.
"Its like the story of Cinderella, there is no story without the Fairy Godmother. John Greene is very much part of the story as I see it," David insisted.

John Greene is a gunsmith of extraordinary acumen. He runs his own engineering plant down in Kilmacow. The tie-up between Greene and Comerford has not been established that long, but longevity is of little importance when compared to the value of the input and rapport that has existed for the past couple of years.

Back to that anon.

David Comerford's association with shooting guns started, not as a hunter with a dog or anything like that. His entry point was clay pigeon shooting. He liked what he was doing. He pitched his being into the sport, and he progressed swiftly.

His abilities were such that he was eventually selected as a member of the Irish international team shooting in the Home Internationals with such Irish luminaries as Derek Burnett, Dave Malone and Philip Murphy among others.

Crash course
Listening to David and John, the element that seemed to be of tantamount importance was the challenge, the chase for perfection, the drug of ultimate success. He progressed from shotgun to .22 rifle, to 5.6 to 6.5 and on to the 308.

Talking to both I got a crash course in the logistics of shooting with different weaponry. I heard them talk of things like 140-grain 6.5 mm bullet, with a larger case behind it to push the bullet to distances of 1,000 yards and more.
David made further advances into the 308 sporting firearm. They marked my book about the various levels of competition, different calibre of competition, different grades of competition and so on. David was quick to point out that there are some calibre of competition that are single dimensional.

"When I took the second spot in the Europeans two years ago, it was a single calibre (308) only competition," he said. "The bullet I used was a heavy variety with a 155-grain. Some use heavier ammunition, but I find that the 155-grain is quite sufficient. It suits me and my rifle.

"It is going out at 3,000 feet per second," he smiled, not quite sure that your columnist really comprehended the ballistic jargon that seemed to come so easily to David and John.

John Greene, a Waterford native but long domiciled in Kilmacow, started life with an engineering company in Waterford. His fascination with guns started when he befriended a Welshman with whom he went deer stalking on a rotational basis between Wales and Waterford.

Opportunistic
He eventually met a renowned rifle-smith, Steve Bowers. His introduction to Bowers proved excitingly opportunistic. John always had an idea that he would love to be able to build his own shooting machine.
Bowers invited John over to work in his workshop in England. That was for a trial period of two weeks initially.

After the two weeks, Bowers was encouraging in his attitude. However, he expressed the opinion that whilst John's basic skills were very impressive, he was sceptical about his engineering skills. Bowers was one of the most lauded gun-smiths in Europe.

John relinquished his position at his place of work, much to the chagrin of his young wife, and returned to college. His two-year engineering course provided the requisite academic qualification, but more importantly, every available day, two days, week or two weeks that John could get during the two years, were used to travel over to Steve Bower's plant to enhance his practical knowledge under the watchful, and guiding direction of Bowers.
John set up his own plant in Kilmacow, having procured the necessary security clearance from the appropriate authority.

I asked a few stupid questions about gunstocks, about break-ins, about people, or at least the wrong element of people knowing about his business.
" I can assure you that my security system is far ahead of any other firearms dealer in the Country. My system is computer controlled, but I also have a back-up system that is nigh on impossible to breach. My entire place is like Alcatraz, when it is locked down, it really is - tight. The system does exactly what it says on the tin", he told us, and somehow we knew that this talented engineer knew what he was talking about.

The buzz
To John Greene the buzz is not necessarily in the achievements of David Comerford using one of his creations, it is more the magnetism of creating something special, something beautiful, a magnificent working machine.

"Before I started doing my present job, I gave years travelling around the country in the back of a Transit van doing all sorts of tedious, boring welding jobs. It was routine, with very little personal satisfaction.

"But when I started doing the guns, it was magical. Here was a job that I enjoyed doing every second of the day. I just loved doing it, quite simply," he told us.

He is, and certainly was, an avid hunting man having shot in places like Norway, Hungary, Scotland, England and many other destinations. He, like David, has a commendable respect for the prey he shoots on such trips. He abhors overkill.

He lectured us on the loss of the primeval sense of homo sapiens. He has no time for the cowboy whose first reaction when prey is about is to shoot. John loves pitting his wits against the animal. He made the point that the prey was in its natural habitat, and even though the hunter seemed to have all the aces with a loaded firearm on his arm, it was the prey that, if stalked properly, owned all the aces. As he said, and it was difficult to argue with him, the prey was a full-time prey while man was a part-time hunter.

We got back to the competitive element and the focus of our visit.
"You see, this whole exercise is a partnership really between John and I," David explained. "John builds the firearms. They are magnificent specimens. I bring all my competitive edge to the competitions. I manage my nervous emotions. I focus myself. I control myself.

"Those disciplines are now second nature to me. Take, for instance, my runner-up spot in the Europeans. I know why I was beaten. I know what I did wrong. It was not the fault of the firearm. It was simply my fault that we didn't win.

Among the top gunsmiths
"So on that basis, John is undeniably among the top two gunsmiths in Europe, and but for my failing, he would have taken the top spot in his particular field of excellence. The firearm John built is well capable of beating any other firearm in the World. What it comes down to is the element of human error. It was not the firearm that cost us, it was simply my fault."
Strangely for a person so adept at firing a bullet into a five-inch disc at 1,000 yards, I found it strange that he abhors shooting animals or game.

Strange that!

David was at pains to emphasise the fact that shooting was one of the safest sports around.
"There is a very strict code of safety involved," he assured. "There are 10 shooters to one Range Officer, and what he says is gospel. When there is a problem, there is a system whereby the word stop is bellowed over the tannoy system and everyone steps back from their firearm."

David is a very prominent member of the Blueball Club outside Tullamore in Co. Offaly. It was officially known as the Midland National Shooting Centre. He attends practically every Sunday, where he could shoot 20 rounds, or he might even stretch that to 50 rounds.

This is the only club of its kind capable of accommodating international marksmen, but there are a number of rifle ranges as well around the country.
It was intriguing listening to two experts talking about things like custom-built guns, trigger weight, aiming off, the alignment of cross hairs, the responsibilities of a wind coach, wind variables, adjustment of trajectory, velocity, targets, the science of rifle and physics and barrel harmonics.

Did you know?
All interesting stuff, but far too meticulous in interpretation to use print space.
For instance, did you know that the barrel of a rifle whips as the bullet is fired, rather like holding a ruler on the edge of a table and flicking the overlap as the back half is held firm?
Did you know that a bullet is rotating in a clockwise fashion as it is fired through the air?
Did you know that a bullet rises, drops and loses its velocity over 1,000 yards?
Did you know that a bullet does not travel in a straight line from gun to target?
Did you know that a bullet fired at a target of 1,000 yards, without adjustment, would miss by at least two yards under normal Irish climatic conditions (wind speed averaging 8-10 miles per hour)?
Did you know that a bullet travels at a speed of 3,000 foot per second, and rotates at 60,000 revolutions per second?

How do people know this? Enough!

We get back to talking about the prospects for David in the Worlds.
He obviously has competed in Europe and all over the UK, but primarily in Bisley. He also competed in British Columbia and the US. Many of his opponents, in particular those encountered in Canada and the US, would have been ex-Army personnel or snipers in the defence forces.

In fact, he can vouch for the fact that he competed against a CIA agent in one of his sojourns to the US. Which leads me to the next obvious observation.

Could you get work as a sniper with any Government willing to hire you, I asked? If looks could kill I'd be a dead man.

"I don't think so," he said with a seriousness in his voice. "The only reason I am in the sport is because I need the test, the demands, the competitive edge shooting a perfect round with the 308 gives. Besides which I would have no interest whatsoever," he fired in such a fashion that there was no ambiguity about the statement. Changing tack somewhat, we asked David about his achievements.

Three years ago he made the Irish team. They competed in Bisley. His first show was a very creditable mid-table showing.

Sporting firearm
Very creditable, considering that he was using a sporting firearm that he had purchased off the shelf. That was long before he met his friend, John Greene from Kilmacow.

Last year he competed in the US nationals, and finished in 14th spot. That was some shootin'.

I picked John Greene's brains a little more before we finished.

How useful would a rifle like the one he made for David Comerford be to an ordinary member of the public for hunting?
"It would be of no use whatsoever," he stated matter of factly. "For starters, it is too heavy and cumbersome. Another thing, there is a special bullet made for the rifle. Furthermore, there is no magazine, which means that there are no bullets up the gun during competition.

"The gun has to be manually loaded with a single bullet being fixed into its breach with a very delicate manoeuvring with your thumb. If you do otherwise, it will be scratched, and that can throw the trajectory way off kilter," he told us.

So the simple answer was that it would be useless to anybody but a competing target shooter. Both John and David would love to see many more people get involved.

I mentioned the filthy lucre words.

"Look," said the gunsmith, "anyone can start by purchasing a rifle off the shelf. They get their permit from the local licensing authority, generally the Gardai, and away they go. Around 500 Euro would give them a gun, a reasonable scope and ammunition to start.
"It would be great if many more, particularly younger people, got involved," he suggested to us.

How much would a gun like David's cost?

Great diplomacy
With the essence of great diplomacy, we found out that you would have no change left out of 6,000 Euro.

David gave plenty of air time to things like concentration and single-mindedness. Both factors are important when faced with the kind of competition that is fast coming in July. Will he be able for it?
"If I can successfully get myself into the zone, I have a mighty chance," he told us.

We wished him well. We wished John Greene well, but before he finished John told us that if anyone reading this had a mind to joining the Midland National Shooting Centre in Tullamore he would be more than willing to encourage them to do so.

David Comerford and John Greene are pragmatic individuals. They know what they want. Above everything else, they gave me the impression that the last person they have any intention of trying to hoodwink was the guy looking back at them when they look in the mirror.

Rovi

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/guinness-warning-is-good-for-you-1631812.html

Investigation into shooting of deer

ANIMAL welfare groups have reacted in horror to the shooting dead of four deer close to a national park. Trigger-happy young hunters are being blamed for the killing of the stag, hind and two calves in a field in Glendowan near Glenveagh National Park in Co Donegal.

The gruesome discovery is now the subject of an investigation by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and gardai.

Rovi

Not available on the Internet, so here's a scan:


...and here's the text:

Licensed Handguns:
An alternative view

Licensed handguns have had a bad press recently. One member feels this is uninformed and unfair on sports shooters; he puts his case...

I was disheartened to read in the Garda Review, last year, where members of the Firearms Training Unit highlighted the threat of licensed handguns and expressed the opinion that legislation was loose and Ireland was beginning to liberalise when our nearest neighbours were outlawing handguns. In November the Minister for Justice outlined his agreement for this same position, and announced new legislation to ban private licensed handguns.

It appears uninformed opinion has become widespread around licensed firearms. It is regretful that whenever criminal activity occurs with a firearm, that politicians, the media, and now the Garda Review, quickly associate licensed pistols and revolvers with the criminal situation prevailing in our society.

I object to any inherent association between licensed firearms with drugs and crime. I am a member of An Garda Sioch6na, and also a member of a well known and reputable sporting club, which is affiliated to the Shooting Sports Association of Ireland (SSAI). I am obviously not involved in drugs or crime. Indeed, there is a thriving International Police Association (IPA) Pistol Club in Ireland whose membership are all members or ex members of An Garda Siochàna.

I would like to offer my colleagues an alternative view of handgun ownership, and pistol shooting, than what is being portrayed as a gun culture, and a social peril.

During my career I have carried official firearms on duty. I also have a military background as a firearms instructor. I now have an interest in pistol shooting in a private capacity. These areas give me reasonable insight into the use of firearms, and handguns in sport.

Over the past two years I have engaged in competitions in Lithuania, Ireland (North and South), competition with PSNI colleagues and with civilians from all communities. In the next two years, it would be my hope to enter competitions in Northern Ireland, Austria, Germany, Poland, Serbia, Lithuania, and Greece, with law abiding and respectable companions from Ireland, who are doctors, engineers, Gardai, defence forces' personnel - from every area of Irish life, except the criminal fraternity.

The subject of licensed handguns has become extremely topical as a result of sad and tragic circumstances in Limerick and Dublin, where decent law abiding citizens lost their lives at the hands of thugs. Comments have been passed about the so-called proliferation of handguns in our society, resulting, unfortunately in a political and media association between responsible persons holding licensed handguns, and crime. Members of the Garda Firearms Training Unit have spoken about the threat of licensed handguns. The threat outlined is purely speculative and, in my opinion, misinformed. Any perceived threat is from an individual, and if a person who might be a threat holds any licenced firearm, than there are measures in current law available to address that situation; revocation.

Many Garda members - including me - have been trained to use and carry handguns; most members and even other firearms users are unaware of the various sporting associations that use similar style pistols and revolvers, and whose membership are extremely safe, security conscious, and highly trained in the handling of firearms for sporting purposes.

I am familiar with recent judgements, including that of Mr. Justice Charleton, and the comments attached to the judgement. I am also very aware of the difficulties regarding granting, refusal and revocation of firearms certificates by Garda Superintendents. In this and other judgements, reference is made (as is commonplace), to weapons. There are no weapons in sports shooting, only firearms. It is also accepted by the shooting community that there is no place among us for anyone who wants to have a weapon, or who wants to engage in activity outside the remit of the grant of the firearms certificate.

I feel that rather than ban the handgun, that appropriate and reasonable measures can be agreed in consultation with the grassroots shooting community to enable sports shooters to continue with their chosen shooting disciplines, and to enable An Garda Siochàna to regulate the licensing, possession, use, carriage and storage of all firearms; not just handguns.

Many statistics have been published regarding the theft of handguns, at last count it was 32. At the time of writing this, the number is reputed to consist of stolen CO2 Pistols, antiques, replicas, decommissioned pieces, and a small number of handguns of .22 calibre and above. There are no statistics actually outlining the number of 'real' handguns, stolen or lost, from individuals, by calibre. Of greater concern is the number of shotguns and rifles stolen and unrecovered, which are multiples of the handguns stolen or lost, and known to have been used in crime.

Without delving too deep into legal jargon, the following comments made in the UK House of Lords stand out as interesting. In 1994, at a time of great unrest in Northern Ireland, Lord Tebbit asked the United Kingdom Government "whether they believe that public safety in Northern Ireland is prejudiced by the holding of licensed handguns by members of the public."

Lord Dubs replied, "Any firearm in the wrong hands can pose a risk to public safety. For this reason the law controls and regulates the legitimate possession and responsible use of firearms. Her Majesty's Government is committed to maintaining rigorous standards of firearms safety in Northern Ireland, as in the rest of the United Kingdom. But to be fully effective the law must be relevant and proportionate to the prevailing conditions."

Despite this, and in similar knee jerk reaction to what we observe in Ireland today, most handguns, of all calibres (even for sporting purposes) were banned in England, Scotland and Wales. Surprisingly, the ban did not follow through to Northern Ireland, where pistols and revolvers of various calibres, are still stored and used safely for sporting reasons by a broad section of society.

My shooting discipline, IPSC, is active in 80 countries throughout the world, 36 of those in the European Region. Regretfully, it is generally confused or associated with tactical shooting, which it is not. As a result, it has become unacceptable, and is being demonised and disparaged by many parties both in Government, and in the shooting community. Indeed, there have been statements made that the banning of this sport will be included in the new Miscellaneous Provisions Bill soon to be published. Imagine; a law to ban a sport.

Many studies are available from the UK and elsewhere which prove there is no association between licensed handguns and crime, and indeed one study in the UK shows a marked increase in gun crime from when the handgun ban was introduced. We also see a marked increase in gun crime in Ireland over the past years, totally unrelated to licensed firearms.

I sincerely hope that the sporting aspirations of people like me will not be harmed by uninformed debate. There are people who can satisfy a genuine need for a particular firearm to compete in local and international shooting disciplines, and not necessarily Olympic disciplines.

There is no threat to anyone from licensed handguns per se, and it is my belief that a reasonable approach to the issue will result in a set of guidelines or legislation that accommodates all sports shooters, satisfies the security of the public, while being relevant and proportionate to the prevailing conditions. GR

For personal security reasons, the author of this article did not feel it was appropriate to identify himself as a holder of a pistol licence in Garda Review but can be contacted through the editor.

Rovi

Again, not available on the Internet, so here's a scan:



...and the text:

GARDA SLAMS PROPOSAL FOR HANDGUN BAN

By SEAN MURPHY

A GARDA has broken ranks to controversially object to a handgun ban backed by the Garda Firearms Training Unit and Dermot Ahern.

The officer wants to shoot down plans — announced last November by Justice Minister Ahern — to ban private licensed handguns due to fears they a threat to policing.

"The threat is purely speculative and misinformed," the garda said.
He has also blasted High Court Justice Peter Charleton's claims that people are "entitled to feel alarmed" about an increase in private pistols licenses.
Some 1,600 pistol licences were issued last year.

"There are no weapons in sports shooting — only firearms. There is no place in the [sports] shooting community for anyone who wants a weapon," said the garda.

Crime
He added: "Of greater concern is the number of shotguns and rifles stolen and unrecovered, which are multiples of the handguns, stolen or lost, and known to have been used in crime."

In the current issue of the Garda Review, the garda and former firearms instructor — who comes from a military background — claims a ban would be unfair on sports shooters.

He said: "I object to any inherent association between licensed firearms and drugs and crime."

seoirse1980

Anyone see this article about poachers that were fined in wicklow. Couldn't find it on the net so hope the text in this picture is legible


MOD INSERTION
Here's an OCR of the text:

Illegal hunters prosecuted for poaching in Wicklow Mountains

The Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government has secured a prosecution against two illegal hunters under the Wildlife Acts 1976 and 2000, who were on an organised anti-poaching patrol in the Wicklow Mountains in November 2008.

Due to the vigilance of Conservation Rangers who were on an anti-poaching patrol in the Wicklow Mountains at 1am on the morning of 17th November 2003, they noticed a vehicle ‘lamping’ Coillte woodland as it travelled along the Wicklow Gap road. This a method of searching for prey using a high-powered lamp during the hours of darkness and is illegal, except under licence, for hunting protected species such as deer.

The Rangers stopped and searched the vehicle and found a lamp and various pieces of equipment normally used by deer hunters. In the back was a man with a loaded gun.

The case was tried in Naas and Kildare District Courts and ended on the 12th February in Kildare District Court. The defendants claimed that they had been shooting foxes for a farmer and were going to shoots deer in south Wicklow at daybreak.

The case was proven against the men on four different charges under the Wildlife Acts 1976 and 2000 and the two individuals involved from Dublin have been given until 22nd April to pay €2,500 each to a charity which will be decided by the Court on that day.

Congratulating the staff of the National Parks & Wildlife Staff (NPWS) attached to the Wicklow National Park, Minister for the Environment, Heritage & Local Government, John Gormley T.D. said: “I wish to congratulate all the staff involved in this successful prosecution. Prosecutions in this area can be difficult as the crimes are hard to detect as they generally take place in the small hours when people think they will not be challenged. I welcome the fact that the financial penalties issued by the courts on this occasion are quite substantial. All too often we can see paltry fines handed down by the courts for this type of crime. Let this be a lesson to all those who might engage in this illegal activity.”

No6

Heres an article about Deer Poaching in Co Mayo

http://www.mayoecho.com/this%20weeks%20edition/pdfs/MAYO01.pdf

http://www.mayoecho.com/this%20weeks%20edition/pdfs/MAYO02.pdf

Rovi

http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/idgbcwojau/rss2/

Firearm licence fee collection to be outsourced
By Noel Baker

THE Garda Síochána is looking to outsource the collection of certificate fees for the almost 250,000 licensed firearms around the country.

Gardaí have traditionally collected the fees for the firearms certificates on behalf of the Revenue Commissioners, but have now advertised for another company to carry out the function.

As of the end of last July there were 233,120 firearm certificates in the country, and the fees collected on the licences brought in €3.3 million for the Revenue in 2008.

Last month the Garda Síochána put the contract for collection of the fees out to tender, with interested parties having until the end of March to express an interest. A Garda spokesman denied the task of collecting the fees was being outsourced over Garda manpower issues, but said the job was not one of the force’s core functions and could be carried out by someone else. While the tender has already been posted, any outsourcing is dependent on new legislation in the form of the revised firearms legislation which is part of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous) Bill awaiting publication.

A Garda spokesman said: "The provision for the outsourcing for the collection of fees for firearms certificates is one of these sections contained in the legislation." Under existing regulations the firearm certificate licensing year runs from August 1 to July 31 the following year and all firearm certificates have a common expiry period of July 31.

Under the revised legislation this would change to a firearm certificate remaining valid for a period of three years from the date it is granted, thereby scrapping the common expiry period.

Fees for firearm certificates currently range from €25 for an unlimited shotgun (granted for use in the shooting of game), to €38 for a pistol, revolver or rifle.

Among the most recent public tenders posted on the state’s tenders website is for IT Disaster Recovery Services for the National Treatment Purchase Fund in the event of a fire at its offices on Dublin’s Tara Street.

Rovi

Did anyone happen to save the files linked in No6's post (#109) above, the one about deer poaching in Mayo?

The links currently point at the latest issue of the newspaper, and I'm assuming they'll continue to do so with each new edition.

Please PM or re-post them if you have them.

Thanks,
Rovi.

Rovi

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/the-big-fellow-is-big-business-1669843.html?start=1
Relevant sections highlighted in bold.

The Big Fellow is big business
Collins memorabilia star attraction at auction


By Jason O'Brien
Thursday March 12 2009

THE Big Fellow, it seems, is big business. A Webley revolver taken from Michael Collins' car shortly after his death in August 1922, and catalogued as "probably General Collins' own sidearm", is the star attraction in an upcoming auction of 500 lots that span 2,500 years.

The Whyte's History and Literature sale, which takes place on Saturday, is expected to raise approximately €350,000, with a range of unique items including a 17th century stone bow, a button taken from Padraig Pearse's tunic before he was executed, and a limited edition replica of the Book of Kells.

There is also a photograph showing the stark image of Collins lying in state. Other versions of the image can be found in the National Library Of Ireland archives, but they are rarely seen.

Tens of thousands of mourners filed past his casket to pay their respects during the three- day period when his body lay in state in Dublin City Hall in August 1922. This image is expected to sell for up to €300.

"There is something for everyone," Ian Whyte, managing director of the auction house, said yesterday.

"This market doesn't get too affected by the recession because it's genuine collectors and, to be honest, they'd probably hock the wife and children to buy what they want."

Mr Whyte believes that a large number of the items -- including manuscripts and memorabilia concerning Eamon de Valera, Arthur Griffith, Tomas Clarke, and Thomas MacDonagh -- are coming to market now because some attitudes are finally softening.

"When I started this business years ago, a lot of people wouldn't mention the War of Independence or the Civil War," he said.

"They didn't want to mention they were involved. And if they were on the other side, they didn't want to mention fighting in World War I maybe.

"But now that it's come to great grandsons and daughters, the families are happy to sell it, partly because it doesn't hold the same meaning for them."

And then there is the small matter of money. The revolver, for example, is expected to realise between €50,000 and €70,000. It was found in 1922 by a Ciss Forde, the great aunt of the vendor.

Correspondence

A car carrying Mr Collins' body had become bogged down as it travelled to Cork, and was left abandoned. Ms Forde searched the car, and hid the revolver she found in the attic of the family pub.

Photos, memorial cards, various correspondence and even Christmas cards from the Big Fellow are included, and all look set to realise good prices as people bid for a piece of history.

From the same period, Mr Pearse's tunic button -- given to his mother Margaret after his execution -- is predicted to make up to €30,000. Some believe it was removed to prevent a ricochet shortly before he was executed for his part in the Easter Rising on May 5 1916. His mother subsequently had it engraved with the date and his initials.

There is also a stunning dress uniform that was worn by Captain Matthew Cahill Connery when he was in the Free State Army.

But it is not just Ireland in the early 20th century -- there are also bonds issued in America to fund the Fenian Rising of 1867, a large bronze torc dating from 500BC, portraits of Michael Davitt and, latterly, rare signed editions from Seamus Heaney.

Viewing starts in the RDS, Dublin, today at noon, with the auction taking place on Saturday at the same venue.

- Jason O'Brien

Sparks

From the BBC on the recent shootings in Germany:

Shootings shock German gun clubs


Ilse Ringelmann has been visiting her shooting club for the last 37 years

The shootings in southern Germany on Wednesday by the 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer has turned the spotlight on the country's gun laws. Heike Karkinsky has been speaking to members of a shooting club near Hamburg for their views.

Ilse Ringelmann reloads her rifle with manicured hands. She focuses on the paper target 50m (54 yards) in front of her, her sandaled feet lodged firmly on the concrete floor.

The air smells of gunpowder and car tyres. A shot cracks through the narrow shooting gallery. She hits the bull's-eye, of course.

For 37 years, Mrs Ringelmann and her husband have been members of the shooting club in Volksdorf, a north-eastern district of Hamburg.

A day after Kretschmer shot 12 of his former schoolmates and teachers in the small town of Winnenden and then three in nearby Wendlingen, feelings run high among those who shoot as a sport and hobby.

"I carry the keys to my gun around with me all the time, and not even my wife has a spare," says club secretary Michael Druegg.

There is widespread disbelief that the young gunman could have had access to one of the 15 weapons legally owned by his father.


"Guns are our sports equipment. Of course they are weapons, but so are golf clubs, tennis rackets and broken bottles"
Georg Stiel
Volksdorf club president

"A gun on the bedside cabinet - that's a criminal offense," Mr Druegg says.

Kretschmer's father belongs to a shooting club just like the one in Volksdorf and passed on some of his skills to his son.

The family is said to have had a private firing range set up in the cellar of their house.

It has yet to be decided if the father will be sued for not locking away his equipment.

Yet shooting enthusiasts are already concerned that such extreme individuals discredit the whole sport.

"The actual problem is violent computer games," says Georg Stiel, president of the club in Volksdorf.

"They mislead young ones, letting them shoot people and animals without being at risk themselves. I would have those games banned."

Shooting clubs, on the other hand, teach respect towards weapons as well as safety rules, gun law, discipline and patience, Mr Stiel says.

"Guns are our sports equipment. Of course they are weapons, but so are golf clubs, tennis rackets and broken bottles," he adds.

'Strict laws'

According to the German Shooting Federation (DSB), there are more than 15,100 clubs scattered all over the country.

They evolved from militias which were set up to protect cities and towns in the Middle Ages and have today become part of a mass sport movement like football or golf.


Many popular traditions have survived though. Every year, countless villages and towns in rural Germany stage their own "Schuetzenfest" or shooting fair.

Club members march through the streets in uniforms heavy with medals, awards and ribbons and contests are held to determine the best marksman.

An estimated two million Germans practise shooting as a sport.

According to the DSB, each member owns an average of two to four guns. And that does not include firearms belonging to the armed forces, policemen and hunters.

After Wednesday's massacre, the debate about tightening gun laws to keep a check on the millions of weapons in private hands unsurprisingly flares up.

In Volksdorf, this is received with disdain.

"Our gun law is one of the strictest in the whole world," Mr Stiel says. "People who demand this have never read the law."

At the moment, German politicians seems to agree with this line.

"I can't see at all how any modification of the gun law could have changed anything about what has happened," said German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

The marksmen in Volksdorf do not tire in pointing out the strict regulations at their firing range.

"The floor is sealed, the ventilation is equipped with nitrosamine filters and every pillar is padded," says secretary Michael Drugg.

Scraps of lead scattered over the rubbery floor have to be cleared up with explosion-proof vacuum cleaners.

"We are safer than any petrol station," he adds.

Camaraderie

After shooting a few rounds, the club veterans gather around a beer or two in a room crammed with cups, flags and medals.

Mrs Ringelmann has taken off her green jacket and relaxes with a drink.

The 69-year-old joined the club because her schoolmates did.

"The camaraderie is what has made us stay on ever since," she says.

"We help each other and we are there for each other."

That seems to be a crucial experience the gunman from Winnenden never had.

Rovi

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/tough-new-gang-laws-to-be-fasttracked-1720678.html
Relevant sections highlighted in bold.

Tough new gang laws to be fast-tracked

By Tom Brady Security Editor
Monday April 27 2009

TOUGH new laws to crackdown on gangland crime are to be fast-tracked by the Government with an operational target of seven weeks.

The measures are contained in the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill, which will allow the gardai to use information gathered through bugging and monitoring as evidence in court.

The legislation will also pave the way for the introduction of offences of gang membership and criminal trials to be held in the non-jury Special Criminal Court.

The plan was drawn up in the wake of the murder of rugby player Shane Geoghegan in Limerick in November and announced shortly after the fatal shooting of another innocent victim, businessman Roy Collins, earlier this month.

Now Justice Minister Dermot Ahern is hoping to push the bill through the Dail and Seanad in the current term.

A special two-day debate on the legislative package will be held in the Dail on Wednesday and Thursday and then moved onto the committee stage where opposition amendments can be tabled.

A spokesman said last night that Mr Ahern intended to have the Bill enacted into law by the summer recess and "hopefully, sooner".

"It is a complex but fundamentally decisive piece of legislation, which the minister believes is a vital piece of the jigsaw in tackling crime gangs," he added.

He said the aim was to enact the law within a seven-week deadline but pointed out that this depended on its progress through the Oireachtas.

For the first time, covert surveillance material will be used in criminal trials as the gardai, the Defence Forces and the Revenue Commissioners will have a statutory framework for the operation of secret electronic surveillance to combat serious crime as well as subversive and terrorist threats against the security of the State.

The legislation also builds in safeguards for the operation of the new law.

Last week the Irish Independent revealed that the major gangs had not been deterred by the public outrage at the murder of Mr Collins in Limerick and have issued a death threat to his brother, Steve junior, in the city less than two weeks after the shooting.

Threat

An associate of the McCarthy-Dundon gang is known to have been involved in the threat. The leadership of that gang will be one of the initial prime targets when the legislation is in place.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has given approval for another new piece of legislation which will increase the penalties for carrying a knife from one year to five years' imprisonment.

The law will also create an extended power of search without warrant for the gardai in certain circumstances.

The bill includes significant changes to the firearms acts, introducing tighter controls on the availability of licensed guns while the sale of samurai swords will also be banned.

Mr Ahern said that while existing legislation on knives and similar weapons was already strong, it needed to be strengthened further.

- Tom Brady Security Editor

Sparks

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/eykfauqlqlkf/rss2/

Minister clamping down on handguns, swords and knives

The Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern is taking steps to effectively ban handguns.



A new bill will mean that no new licenses will be issued for handguns, with very limited exceptions in relation to Olympic sports.

Meanwhile, tougher penalties are being introduced for people found in possession of knives.

The penalty for possessing a knife in a public place is being increased from one to five years.

Gardaí are also being given an extended power of search without warrant in relation to knives and offensive weapons.

Samurai swords are also to be outlawed.

Rovi

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0515/1224246567146.html

Rigorous checks for firearms licence applicants

CONOR LALLY, Crime Correspondent

SENIOR GARDAÍ will have the power to inquire into the physical and mental health of anybody applying for a firearms licence under new measures being introduced by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern.

The new legislation will also require applicants to submit character references and provide proof they have installed safes and other measures ensuring weapons are properly locked away when they are not being used.

Mr Ahern said the Criminal Justice Miscellaneous Provisions Bill would introduce a blanket ban on any new handgun licences being issued. “Handguns were effectively banned during the Troubles,” he said. “But following a series of judicial decisions that is no longer the case, and around 1,800 handguns have been licensed. That number will continue to rise unless we take action. At least one judge has expressed concern at this alarming growth.”

He said licences for handguns and other firearms will be due for renewal in the summer months. It was vital the proposed Bill be enacted before then.

Gardaí had proven very successful in seizing illegal firearms. Some 2,000 weapons had been seized under Operation Anvil alone in recent years.

There are no plans in place for another weapons amnesty.

Mr Ahern was speaking at a Garda Reserve passing-out at the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary.

Under the new legislation no new handgun licences will be issued, with limited exceptions for Olympic shooting sports. Existing licensees will be subjected to much more rigorous checks than at present.

From August, a Garda superintendent will be allowed to inquire into the medical, including mental, health of a licence applicant. Those seeking licences will have to provide character references and proof of having installed secure storage for their guns.

Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy said he believed the vast majority of Irish people did not want to see a regime where more handgun licences were issued.

“The new legislation also gives me the ability to circulate guidelines to Garda members on the issuing of all types of firearms licences. That means there will be a uniform approach.”

Meanwhile, the Garda is on course to reach the target strength for the Garda Reserve contained in the programme for government, a senior officer said.

Supt Simon O’Connor, who is second-in-command over the reserves, said the number of reservists would reach 10 per cent of the full-time Garda force by 2012.

The target full strength of the reserves was 1,500 and already the part-time force had more than 500 members attested and in training. He said the reserve force was not being impacted by the ban on recruitment to the public sector. “We’re recruiting all year round and we’re continuing to recruit,” he said.

Some 97 reservists of eight nationalities graduated at the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary, yesterday. This brought to 419 the number of attested members, with a further 101 in training.

As well as the Irish nationals, there were reservists from Argentina, Poland, Ukraine, Nigeria, China, India and Zimbabwe.

Rovi

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/ahern-plans-ban-on-handguns-1739869.html

Ahern plans ban on handguns


By Tom Brady
Friday May 15 2009

NEW legislation controlling the licensing of firearms is to be in operation by the summer before the new round of applications to the courts begins.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said yesterday this was his aim as he published details of his Miscellaneous Provisions Bill.

This will result in a ban on handguns and tougher penalties for anybody caught in illegal possession of knives.

He said the significant overhaul of firearm licensing would mean that no new licences would be issued for handguns, except for those being used in Olympic sport.

Shotguns

Existing handgun licences would be subject to new rigorous licensing procedures when their renewal was being sought in the courts and a three-year licensing system for other firearms, such as shotguns, was being introduced, he said.

This system will become operational in August and will allow garda superintendents to look at the medical history of applicants, provide for character referees for applicants and introduced minimum standards for secure accommodation for the guns.

Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy said he welcomed the initiative and pointed out that it would allow him to issue guidelines to his officers around the country, ensuring greater uniformity in their approach.

Mr Ahern said he was shocked by the growth in the number of legally held handguns in the State.

"Handguns were effectively banned in the State until 2004, mainly as a result of measures introduced during the Troubles. But following a series of judicial decisions that is no longer the case and about 1,800 handguns have been licensed.

"That number will continue to rise unless we take action," he warned.

Mr Ahern said he did not want to see the development of a handgun culture here. The proposed legislation mirrored what had been done in other jurisdictions in the light of dreadful atrocities, which had been committed using deadly weapons.

"The time for action is now and not in the bloody aftermath of some horrific shooting," the minister added.

He pointed out that his proposals had the backing of the Commissioner and the Chief Inspector of the Garda Inspectorate, Ms Kathy O'Toole, drawing on her considerable experience in the United States.

The bill will also allow the minister to tackle the problems with realistic imitation firearms -- airsoft weapons -- through restrictions on their importation, sale and use.

- Tom Brady

Rovi

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/laws-to-crack-down-on-licensed-handguns--91857.html

Laws to crack down on licensed handguns

By Jimmy Woulfe Mid-West Correspondent

Friday, May 15, 2009

A MAJOR crackdown on licensed handguns and stiffer jail sentences for people found carrying knives and Samurai swords, has been announced by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern.

Outlining the new legislation, Mr Ahern said he was shocked to learn that 1,800 handguns had been licensed over the past four years.

Non-Garda and army personnel have to obtain a licence to own a handgun. Handguns were effectively banned in the State until 2004, as a result of measures introduced during the Northern troubles.

Following a series of judicial decisions, however, that situation changed in 2004.

Mr Ahern said: "The number (of handgun licences) will continue to rise unless we take action. At least one judge has expressed his concern at this alarming growth."

He announced the Government decision to enact the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous) Provisions Bill 2009 at Templemore College where 101 new members of the Garda Reserve graduated.

Mr Ahern said: "I don’t think the broad spectrum of people in Ireland want a gun culture in the country. Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy and the Garda management support strongly what I am doing.

"It is a necessary step in moving away from the handgun culture which has been developing.

"It mirrors what has been done in other jurisdictions in the light of dreadful atrocities which have been committed using deadly weapons."

Under the legislation no new handgun licenses will be issued, with limited exceptions where Olympic sports are involved.

Existing handgun licenses will be subject to the new rigorous licensing procedures when a renewal is sought.

Mr Ahern also announced a new three-year licensing system which will be introduced for non-handgun firearms, such as shotguns. This new vetting system will come into effect next August.

Mr Ahern said it is imperative that the new law is enacted before the summer, due to the licensing situation with guns.

The new legislation will also outlaw the brandishing of realistic imitation firearms in a public place and place restrictions on the importation and sale of replicas and "airsoft" guns.

Penalties for carrying knives will also be ratcheted up considerably.

Under the terms of the new bill, the maximum penalty for possession of a knife in a public place will be increased from one to five years. Samurai swords will also be outlawed.

Mr Ahern said: "Legislation on the use of knives and similar weapons is already very strong and heavy fines are in place. But I am introducing two provisions in the bill to strengthen the law in this area."



This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Friday, May 15, 2009

Rovi

No on-line presence, so here's a scan:

Rovi

Item on Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 (7MB .mp3 file):
http://www.mediafire.com/?5l3gkjy11ob

Sparks

From the Irish Times:

Handgun culture increasing in the State, says Deasy
MICHAEL O'REGAN

CURRENT LICENSING laws could mean 10,000 legally held handguns in the State over the next five years, John Deasy (FG) told the Dáil.

“I believe society does not want that,’’ he added.

“It is right to bring some practicality and reality into this debate.’’ Mr Deasy was speaking during the resumed debate on the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill which bans new licences for handguns, except those used for Olympic sports.

He said that those who argued that there was no handgun culture, or that the Dáil was treating gun and shooting clubs harshly, or that people should have a right to buy and keep as many handguns as they pleased, should explain how the increased proliferation of handguns and the liberalisation of the law would not harm society.

He added: “The onus is on them to convince me, my colleagues, the Garda and the majority of the public, how more of these weapons could possibly be of any benefit to anyone besides their owners.

“I agree with the sentiment that we have arrived at this point, not because of any public policy decision, but because of legal challenges, court decisions which have had the practical effect, intended or not, of liberalising the laws relating to handgun ownership.

“That is why we need to provide clarity and deal with a situation that was never the objective, aim or purpose of this legislature.’’ Mr Deasy said that 579 new licences were issued last year.

“There is a handgun culture which has grown rapidly, as the figures prove,’’ he added.

“Interestingly, the figures from November 2008, when the Minister announced the ban, are much lower, month-for-month.’’ That trend, said Mr Deasy, seemed to have continued into this year. In the first four months, 81 handgun licences were issued, while 215 had been issued for the corresponding period last year.

“It is clear that some superintendents around the country have stopped issuing these licences pending legislative clarity,’’ he added.

Mr Deasy said that gardaí in his constituency had referred him to a robbery in which the robbers left the shotgun and rifle but took the handgun.

The members of the 40-odd gun clubs might be of good character, but the more handguns licensed meant more making their way into the hands of criminals, he added.

Rovi

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0619/1224249120046.html

Minister rejects criticism on handgun licence reform

MARY MINIHAN

MINISTER FOR Justice Dermot Ahern has warned of a “highly undesirable” culture of handgun use.

He also rejected criticism from Fine Gael and Labour regarding his proposals to reform gun ownership laws.

Charles Flanagan of Fine Gael and Labour’s Pat Rabbitte had put down amendments to the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009, which went through committee stage yesterday.

The proposed legislation would ban new handgun licences, except for those used in Olympic sports.

Some 1,800 handguns have been licensed in the State since 2004.

Mr Ahern said he was determined to stamp out a practice known as “practical shooting”. His department had monitored with concern “competitions in which people shoot their way through multi-stage target courses based on real life combat scenarios, such as a home invasion or a hostage rescue”.

He said: “This activity is one that seeks to glorify and normalise attitudes to high-powered handguns and promote their use and ownership,” he said. Mr Ahern said “practical shooting” was a “highly undesirable” recent development in Irish shooting sports.

The Garda authorities had recommended that it be prohibited, and it was not endorsed by the Firearms Consultative Panel, he said.

“It’s simply not in the public interest to tolerate the development of a subculture predicated on a shooting activity which by the liberal standards of the US is regarded as an extreme shooting activity.”

He said any cursory research on the internet showed that these activities were marketed as being at the “extreme end” of handgun ownership and were “anathema to the tradition of Irish sporting clubs”.

Fine Gael’s justice spokesman Mr Flanagan accused the Minister of scaremongering and exaggerating the threat of the development of a handgun culture.

“Rural Ireland isn’t like rural America of the George Bush Republicans, with a chicken in every pot and a gun under every pillow.

“We have no such tendencies in this country,” he said.

Mr Flanagan said he had visited a shooting range recently to find out how such clubs operated.

“I just feel that there should be a mechanism for genuine sporting enthusiasts to have their licences . . . granted under the most stringent and strict conditions.”

Labour’s justice spokesman, Mr Rabbitte, said the Minister was proposing to significantly alter the licensing regime for firearms generally, and handguns in particular.

“I’m a bit puzzled by the severity of what you’re proposing,” he said.

Mr Rabbitte said there was no evidence of guns “leaking” to the criminal fraternity from legitimate gun clubs.

He said there were “an awful lot of people” involved in recreational and sports-related shooting activities, and they were law-abiding citizens.

Rovi

http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/16654

Ó Snodaigh welcomes firearms measures in Criminal Justice Bill 2009

June 18, 2009

Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD has said the Criminal Justice Bill 2009 will not address gangland crime but represents a welcome development in terms of prudent gun control. Deputy Ó Snodaigh said the Bill will help prevent the development of a gun culture in Ireland while ensuring that Ireland continues to be proudly represented by talented target shooters at Olympic type events into the future.

Speaking at Committee stage of the Bill Deputy Ó Snodaigh said, “The new firearms provisions contained in this Bill will not address gangland crime but they do represent a welcome development in terms of prudent gun control.

“The Bill bans high calibre handguns while allowing lower calibre handguns for use in sports recognised by the Olympic Committee to continue to be licensed. I believe both the sporting tradition and the public at large should welcome this Bill.

“I am proposing a number of amendments including that any future further prohibitions of firearms types by the Minister be brought before the Oireachtas Justice Committee so that the implications, if any, for sporting activities can be properly considered and debated in advance.

“By banning high calibre handguns and the so-called sports involving combat based simulations and by introducing a more comprehensive and effective licensing regime for all other firearms this Bill will help prevent the development of a gun culture and perhaps reduce the shameful instances of Irish people acting as mercenaries and interfering with democratic processes abroad while ensuring that Ireland continues to be proudly represented by talented target shooters at Olympic type events into the future.

“In addition I called on the Minister today to investigate the potential for forensic testing and recording of licensed firearms in the future and the possibility of pursuing a measure at EU level for the mandatory GPS chipping of firearms during the manufacturing stage.”

Rovi

http://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/13624

Under normal circumstances, possibly not strictly applicable here as there's no actual firearm involved, but it's relevant in that it's related to the Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, and the subject feeds into the general political/PR atmosphere in which firearms exist here.

Man pointed fake AK47 at people in city car park, court hears
Galway Advertiser, June 18, 2009.

Sale of replicas has caused problems, says gardai

By Martina Nee

A case in which a man pointed a replica Kalashnikov AK47 rifle out of a car window to induce fear in a number of people at a shopping centre car park has been adjourned.

At Galway District Court yesterday Judge Mary Fahy adjourned the case until July 13 to allow time to fully consider the evidence as it was the first time such a case had been brought before her. Arturas Pancerovas (27) with an address at 2c Leitir Burca, Ballymoneen Road, pleaded guilty to possession of an article with intent to cause fear in another at Dunnes Stores, Westside, on October 29, 2007.

Inspector Pat McHugh told the court that at 12.49am gardai received a 999 call which reported a person pointing a gun out of the window of a silver Mercedes which had pulled into the car park of Dunnes Store in Westside. The car was found in a premises in Furbo and gardai were then able to track down the defendant at a garage where he works. Pancerovas brought gardai to his house and he handed over the replica AK47 machine gun which was then sent for forensic analysis. Inspector McHugh said that the replica, made of die cast metal, was the “same weight and design” of a real Kalashnikov AK47 but that it was “not designed or capable of firing ammunition”.

“If the replica was brought in here you would not know the difference,” said Inspector McHugh.

The court then heard that during questioning the defendant, a Lithuanian national, told gardai that he and a friend went to get drink. Pancerovas said that there had been a number of people in the car park who had mistaken him for being Polish and he had taken offence to that and shouted “mother f**kers” at them. He had bought the replica gun for €150 in a shop in Sligo a number of months before the incident.

“This is the first time I’ve ever come across this type of charge. It raises a number of issues. Why did he buy it and why was it in the car?” asked Judge Fahy.

Defence solicitor Olivia Traynor said that her client had bought the replica gun because he “thought it was cool”. She added that there was no intention to use it to commit a crime and the defendant had never taken it out of the house before. Ms Traynor said that when he and a friend went to get drink he just put it in the car.

Inspector McHugh then informed the judge that the defendant had two previous convictions for theft in April 2005, for which he received a four-month suspended sentence. He also made an application for the forfeiture of the gun.

During the court case Inspector McHugh commented that a number of shops have been selling imitation firearms and this has caused a number of problems in Galway as “nobody knows if it [the gun] is real or imitation”. These difficulties have not gone unnoticed by the Minister for Justice, Quality, and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern TD, who has been strongly pushing for stricter controls for the sale and importation of realistic imitation fireams (including devices known as airsoft). According to a Department spokesperson new restrictions and greater powers to ban the sale of such devices in shops around the country will be brought through the Dail by July 2 and are expected to become law by the summer recess.

Eight new sections (9A to 9H) are to be added to the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990. These sections will make it an offence for a person to possess a realistic imitation firearm in a public place. A “realistic imitation firearm” is defined as a device that appears to the ordinary observer so realistic as to make it indistinguishable from a firearm. The use of realistic imitation firearms such as airsoft devices will also be restricted to certain places which are authorised by the local Superintendent.

Sparks

Irish times:

Department monitoring extreme target shooting competitions - Ahern

MICHAEL O'REGAN

CERTAIN KINDS of target shooting were not a sport, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern told the Dáil. He said his department had monitored with concern the development of the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC), which organised competitions where people shot their way through multi-stage target courses based on real-life combat scenarios.

“From a cursory look at the internet, one will see that these activities are marketed as being at the extreme end of handgun sport,” he added. “The Garda and the reputable representative bodies of those engaged in firearm shooting, including handgun shooting, are against this.”

Mr Ahern suggested that members of the House perhaps did not realise what was involved. He had heard the argument that it was a sport, but it was not.

“The evidence our people and the Garda have received about what has been going on in a number of practical shooting ranges indicates that it amounts to nothing other than a mimicking of combat-style shooting,” he added.

Mr Ahern was speaking during the final stage debate on the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill restricting the use of handguns.

Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan said the Minister should forget about the IPSC and deal with target bull’s eye static shooting. Mr Ahern said that would be allowed under the legislation.

Mr Flanagan suggested that the Minister introduce a capped number of licences that could be reviewed each year.

The Minister, he said, was using the argument about extreme sports without providing sufficient evidence to bolster his claim.

“In so doing, he is denying legitimate static-target shooting enthusiasts an opportunity to continue the sport which is accepted internationally,” said Mr Flanagan.

Mr Ahern insisted that there would be no difficulty with normal target shooting and said he did not wish to move against those who were genuine in their participation in a sport. He said people had lobbied Mr Flanagan, as they had members of Fianna Fáil.

“When I explained the reality of dynamic practical shooting, they fully accepted the position,” he added.

Sparks

From the Irish Examiner:

Ahern claims criminals infiltrating gun clubs to train in use of handguns

By Conor Ryan Political Correspondent
Friday, July 03, 2009

GUN clubs are being infiltrated to help train criminals in the use of handguns, Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has told the Dáil.

He defended a provision in the new Criminal Justice Bill outlawing "practical and dynamic" shooting drills which involve role-play situations. "What has been going on in some of these shooting ranges is nothing other than mimicking combat-style shooting," he said.

Mr Ahern said bona fide gun club groups had written to him in support of the measure, because they had no desire to promote this type of activity.

He said his ban was designed to prevent gangs using legitimate sports to prepare for criminal activity.

Earlier, the Labour Party’s justice spokesman Pat Rabbitte proposed an amendment requiring supervision, vetting and safety measures instead of the unnecessary curtailment of sports shooting. He said he did not envy Mr Ahern’s dilemma, but asked that it not be too draconian. He also wondered "why the minister was so focused on this particular objective in the bill".

"I have listened to what was said at committee stage and I am still somewhat in the dark as to why it is such a high priority with him.

"The impression I formed is that the minister fears you can join one of these clubs and you can become skilled in the use of firearms and you can subsequently use these skills for anti-social purposes," he said.

Mr Rabbitte said, if that was the case, Mr Ahern should have taken on his amendment to vet members rather than issue an outright ban on practical shooting.

Fine Gael’s Charlie Flanagan, who tabled a similar amendment, said there were official Olympic sports which would be outlawed in Ireland because of the law.

However, the minister said he had consulted widely with clubs and the gardaí and there was little objection to a focused ban on this type of training.

He said while "99.9%" of the country’s gun owners were good people he had to act if he thought aspects of the sport were being abused by criminal elements.

Rovi

With thanks to marlin vs for originally scanning this, here's the text of the article from their website:

http://www.waterford-today.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6373&Itemid=1&ed=653

Deasy achieves hand gun ban

The President, Mary McAleese is expected to sign the Criminal Justice Miscellaneous Bill into law this week after the Dail passed the final stages of what has become known as the handgun bill. The new law which severely limits the licensing of handguns was initiated when Deputy John Deasy repeatedly raised the issue of handguns in the Dail

Responses to a series of Dail questions over a number of months asked by Deputy Deasy revealed that the number of handguns legally licensed had increased six-fold in the last four years. In 2004 no handguns were legally held and licensed. At the start of 2009 that number had risen to approximately 1,800 handgun licenses. He said, "I'll never forget the first time I read those figures out on the Dail floor. The reaction was one of total disbelief. It proved nobody was aware of what had occurred."

Deasy maintains it was a situation that was never intended to happen. He said, "A number of High Court cases were taken against the Gardai by handgun owners, one of them against the Garda Superintendent in Waterford. The ruling in the Waterford case went against the Gardai, and along with similar decisions it had the effect of liberalising the licensing of handguns throughout the country."

The next set of Dail questions asked by Deasy focussed on who exactly was handing out the licenses. He said, "I suspected that some Superintendents were dead against giving out these licenses and some were a good deal more liberal. The figures, when they finally came, bore that out."

The statistics in question indicated that in many Garda Districts and Divisions there was almost no attempt to restrict the issuing of handgun licenses while in others there was a clear policy of non-issuance. In one Garda district more than 100 handgun licenses were given out while in a number of other Garda districts none had been endorsed by the Garda Superintendent. Deasy said, "I had to ask for those figures at least three times but when they came it was immediately apparent there was absolutely no uniformity when it came to the licensing system. It was crystal clear that the handing out of handguns had become a completely subjective and arbitrary process and depended on how each individual Superintendent viewed the law. I think that when those figures were publicised there was an acceptance that there was a clear problem."

The case for reforming the licensing of handguns was catapulted into the spotlight when the Garda Commissioner, Fachtna Murphy, appeared at the Public Accounts Committee.

Deasy said, "I noticed that morning the Garda Commissioner was in the Public Accounts Committee. I went down to the committee room and asked a member of the committee to ask the Commissioner what was going on with handguns. His response blew everyone away. His remark about how strange it was to be in a situation where on one hand the Gardai were forced by court decisions to license Glock pistols and at the same time they were trying to take them out of the hands of criminals was shocking. I didn't expect him to be so direct and got the impression he was glad to be able to express the concern of the Gardai. After that exchange in the committee everyone began taking the issue of handguns really seriously."

The bill which passed the Dail last week completely restricts handgun ownership apart from those handguns used for participating in top class target shooting competitions such as the Olympics. It is also intended that all those existing license holders will have to reapply to keep their handguns. From now on the ultimate discretion over licensing will lie with the Garda Commissioner and anyone who maintains their license will be required to become a member of a registered target shooting club. The legislation strictly prohibits practical shooting or combat simulation shooting. On the Dail floor last week the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, warned that this particular form of shooting was being favoured by members of criminal gangs to develop their shooting skills.

Deputy Deasy said, "Senior gardai in Waterford were very helpful throughout. They were under no illusions about the dangers involved in allowing this situation to go unchecked and filled me in about the loopholes in the old system. They had come across disturbing trends when it came to the acquiring of handguns, legally and illegally. Their input was extremely important.

In the interests of completeness, and as the print version is somewhat longer, here's a composite screengrab of the on-line print edition:

Rovi

http://www.waterford-news.ie/news/story/?trs=mhausneykf&cat=news

Deasy responsible for new laws on handgun ownership

By Marion O’Mara

OWNERSHIP of handguns by individuals is to be severely restricted and those already in possession of guns will have to reapply to keep their weapons thanks to Waterford’s Deputy John Deasy.

The Criminal Justice Miscellaneous Bill, which is expected to be signed into law this week, will also mean that the ultimate discretion over licensing will lie with the Garda Commissioner and anyone maintaining their license will be required to become a member of a registered target shooting club.

Since 2004 there has been a dramatic increase in the number of handguns licensed in this country. The cumulative number of licensed handguns increased from zero in 2003-04 to 305 in 200405, 946 in 2005-06, 1,367 in 2006-07 and to 1,701 in 2007-08.

Deputy Deasy, who has been the guiding force in having the laws relating to handguns changed, paid tribute to senior Gardaí in Waterford for their help in bringing the Bill to the ultimate stage.

“They were under no illusions about the dangers involved in allowing this situation to go unchecked and filled me in about the loopholes in the old system. They had come across disturbing trends when it came to the acquiring of handguns, legally and illegally. Their input was extremely important,” he said.

Speaking during Question Time in the Dáil he said that the loosening of the law governing the licensing of handguns had led to the issuing of approximately 1,800 licences up to last year. Senior Gardaí in the Waterford constituency had told him that they were not happy about the distinct lack of uniformity in the area of licensing.

“They complained that although guidelines should have been introduced to govern the licensing of handguns, that had not been done,” Deputy Deasy said. “They told me they discouraged applications for handgun licences as much as possible.

They mentioned that an individual had taken the Garda superintendent in Waterford city to the High Court after he refused to issue a licence for a handgun. The judge in the case ruled against the force, on the basis that if one is prepared to give an individual a licence for a shotgun or a rifle, there is no good reason one should not give that person a licence for a handgun.

“That left the Garda Síochána in my constituency in an interesting position. The members of the force feel they are in a compromising position.”

Rovi

RTE Radio 1, Drivetime, Thursday August 20th, 2009; Philip Bouchier-Hayes interviews Bernard Phelan of the IFA, on the subject of the new firearm licensing system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4UllbvgSpQ

Rovi

http://www.ifa.ie/Press/DisplayFullArticlenew.asp?ID=2433

20/08/2009

NEW FIREARMS LICENSING UNWORKABLE AND COUNTERPRODUCTIVE

IFA Countryside Chairman David Wilkinson today called on the Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to rethink the newly introduced licensing system for firearms. Under the new legislation all gun owners are required to invest a huge amount of time satisfying complex and confusing red tape requirements.

Mr Wilkinson said, ‘this new system is a logistical nightmare which does not recognise the outstanding record of those who have legally held firearms in this country in the past. IFA Countryside has been inundated with complaints from worried members who are seriously considering abandoning the sport altogether.’

He concluded, ‘the licensing system should aim to keep firearms out of the hands of undesirables while making it user friendly for those who use them legally. IFA Countryside were at no point, during the firearms consultative panels meetings, informed that red tape of this degree was going to be introduced.”

Rovi

http://www.examiner.ie/business/snsncweysn/

Farmers urge minister to rethink restrictive new gun licensing laws
By Ray Ryan, Agribusiness Correspondent

Saturday, August 22, 2009

FARMERS have called on Justice Minister Dermot Ahern to rethink gun laws that have just been introduced.

No new handgun licences will be issued under the legislation, with limited exceptions for Olympic shooting sports.

A Garda superintendent can now inquire into the medical, including mental, health of an applicant.

Those seeking licences will need to have character references and proof of having installed secure storage for their guns.

IFA countryside chairman David Wilkinson said all gun owners are required to invest a huge amount of time satisfying complex and confusing red tape requirements.

"This new system is a logistical nightmare which does not recognise the outstanding record of those who have legally held firearms in this country in the past.

"IFA Countryside has been inundated with complaints from worried members who are seriously considering abandoning the sport altogether," he said.

Mr Wilkinson said the licensing system should aim to keep firearms out of the hands of undesirables while making it user friendly for legal users.

"IFA Countryside were at no point, during the firearms’ consultative panels meetings, informed that red tape of this degree was going to be introduced," he said.

Ireland East MEP Nessa Childers claimed the issue affected more than 236,000 lawful individuals during the recent elections.

She said there was an urgent need for a single, comprehensive, updated code on firearms to fight gun crime but the bill was too reactionary and showed a lack of foresight.

"There is no evidence to show that legally held guns have been used in the commission of any crime. I am, of course, in favour of bringing the law up to date in the matter of licensing of firearms, their security and their use.

"I am not in favour, however, of measures purportedly introduced to tackle crime being used instead to put legitimate sports clubs out of business."

Mr Ahern repeatedly stated, however, that the legislation was designed to halt the emergence of a gun culture in Ireland.

He disclosed that there are 1,800 legal handguns that could exceed 4,000 in three years time and this was unacceptable. "While I know the vast majority of licensed gun owners behave responsibly, my paramount concern must be the protection of the public, particularly against the background of the level of gun crime which is taking place."


This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, August 22, 2009

Rovi

As reported by various sources:

LONGFORD LEADER
http://www.longfordleader.ie/news/Judge-shot-by-air-pistol.5656261.jp

Judge shot by air pistol during court hearing

Published Date: 17 September 2009
By Sheila Reilly

Judge John Neilan was accidentally shot by an air pistol during a Family Law hearing in Longford earlier this week.
The accident happened when a solicitor was exhibiting an air pistol during the court hearing. The weapon was inadvertently discharged, firing a pellet which struck the judge.
The judge was not seriously injured in the incident and, in fact, it is understood that he continued to hear the court case. The incident occurred during a Family Law hearing on Tuesday in front of around half a dozen shocked witnesses. The media are excluded from Family Law cases and as a result, details of the incident have only emerged today, Thursday.

THE IRISH TIMES
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/0918/1224254803121.html

Friday, September 18, 2009
Pellets from toy gun strike judge at family law hearing

CAROL COULTER Legal Affairs Editor

A JUDGE was struck by pellets from a toy pellet gun in Longford District Court last Tuesday.

The incident occurred during a family law hearing before Judge John Neilan, which was held in camera, so no reporter was present and details of the case cannot be revealed.

It is understood that one of the issues in dispute between the parties, who are the parents of a child, was the purchase of a toy pellet gun for the child by the father, to which the mother objected.

The solicitor for one of the parties had the gun in court and it went off accidentally, striking the judge with pellets. He was not injured, and continued hearing the case. Judge Neilan himself bore no responsibility whatsoever for the incident.

The judge has been at the centre of controversy in the past, particularly for statements from the bench.

Last year the Courts Service took the unusual step of issuing a statement to contradict a member of the judiciary, when it said Judge Neilan had consistently refused to meet those involved in reorganising District Court districts and sittings.

It did so in response to remarks he had made about the Courts Service management and staff in which he described the service as “totally, absolutely, utterly incompetent from the CEO down”, and staffed by officials who were “far removed from operating” the system and were merely “moving figures around on a screen”. He was speaking about the issue of adjournments in courts in the midlands area.

In 2003, he issued an apology after widespread criticism of comments he made when two non-Irish national women appeared before him on shoplifting charges. He said: “The majority of shopping centres in this District Court area will be putting a ban on access to coloured people if this type of behaviour does not stop.”

In 2004, he announced he would immediately jail for a week all those guilty of drink-driving while he considered what sentence to impose.

At Mullingar District Court yesterday, when asked to comment on the shooting incident, Judge Neilan smiled and declined to comment.

IRISH INDEPENDENT
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/drama-at-courthouse-as-judge-is-shot-in-the-face-1890217.html

Drama at courthouse as judge is shot in the face

By Eimear Ni Bhraonain and Claire O'Brien

Friday September 18 2009

AN OUTSPOKEN judge was accidentally shot in the face by a solicitor who was trying to demonstrate that an air pistol was harmless.

Judge John Neilan was hearing a family law case in Longford District Court when he was shot, it emerged yesterday.

The judge, who is never lost for words, didn't want to comment on the matter yesterday.

Ironically, the lawyer was trying to demonstrate to Judge John Neilan that the weapon was not dangerous when it accidentally discharged and fired a pellet in his direction.

It happened during a family law hearing in Longford District Court on Tuesday.

The judge was not seriously injured in the incident and it is understood that he continued hearing the case and proceedings went ahead as normal.

Yesterday, the judge had no marks on his face as he presided over Mullingar District Court in Co Westmeath.

When asked about the matter before he entered the court house yesterday afternoon, the judge said: "I don't want to make a comment."

Gardai said there were "absolutely no records" of the incident.

There were only a handful of witnesses when the judge was accidentally shot as all family law matters are held in camera.

In cases like this, restrictions are in place as to who can attend the court as they involve sensitive domestic issues.

No media or gardai were present for the case on Tuesday.

Normally, in criminal cases, an exhibits officer is appointed by gardai to present evidence in the courtroom.

However, on this occasion, the matter was a civil one and it would be the responsibility of the solicitor in court to ensure the evidence was secure.

Judge Neilan has never been far from the limelight over the years. He questioned the "obscene" salaries of top bankers and attacked the sector for losing the run of themselves in July.

The outspoken judge lambasted the banks for handing out money "in fistfuls" during the boom. He also said the people who ran the sector had less common sense than a "dog in the street".

Incompetent

And last year, he caused uproar when he branded Court Service staff as "lazy" and "totally incompetent" after they complained about working after 5pm.

He said he was "sick and tired and fed up" with the Court Service from the top down. He described the system as a "shambles" and said those involved were "totally incompetent" as far as he was concerned.

Last December, ahead of changes to the district in which he presides, the judge apologised to "anyone and everybody" he may have "wittingly or unwittingly offended".

He has also had words with high-ranking gardai in his courtroom.

The judge threatened to jail a senior garda inspector for one week on June 2, 2008, after he accused him of "laughing" in court.

He claimed he saw Inspector Paul Cuttle laughing after he branded a remand hearing for a man charged with murder as a "PR exercise" when gardai failed to produce a book of evidence.

In 2004, he declared he would immediately jail for one week all those guilty of drink driving while considering a sufficient penalty.

After former Justice Minister Michael McDowell pointed out the constitutional right to bail, the judge said he was withdrawing from hearing drink-driving cases for six months. Work at the judge's court resumed but he continued to have a tense relationship with Mr McDowell.

When asked if he would join the then minister in opening the newly refurbished Longford courthouse, he said: "I wouldn't share the platform with him if he was opening the gates of heaven."

- Eimear Ni Bhraonain and Claire O'Brien

BREAKINGNEWS.IE
http://www.breakingnews.ie/archives/2009/0917/ireland/eycwgbqlidid/

Judge hit by airgun pellet in court

17/09/2009 - 18:35:07
An outspoken judge found himself in the firing line after he was accidentally shot with an airgun during a private court case, it was revealed today.

John Neilan, who serves on the bench in the midlands, was struck by a pellet from the pistol as a lawyer showed it to the court.

The colourful judge, best known for his own shooting from the lip, laughed off the attack and carried on hearing the case.

The Courts Service refused to comment insisting it was bound by the rules of family law which prevented it from discussing anything to do with the case.

It is understood a solicitor had been exhibiting the non-lethal kid’s toy when it was inadvertently discharged and a tiny pellet struck the judge.

The shooting occurred during an in-camera Family Law hearing in Longford District Court on Tuesday.

There were at least a half a dozen shocked witnesses including legal teams and court staff.

Judge Neilan is one of the most outspoken and colourful judges sitting in Irish courts.

Last December, he offered an apology to anyone he had offended in his courtroom during his career claiming one of his greatest failings was his honesty.

In the past he has publicly criticised the Courts Service and in a row over late sittings claimed its staff had no intelligence, but he later apologised.

Other targets of his dismay included then Justice Minister Michael McDowell in 2004 in a row over the jailing of drink-drivers, as well as publicans for selling alcohol to young men.

Judge Neilan later refused to attend the opening of a new courthouse with the then minister.

THE HERALD
http://www.herald.ie/national-news/judge-shot-by-solicitor-continues-with-case-1890145.html

Judge shot by solicitor continues with case

Friday September 18 2009

An outspoken judge found himself in the firing line after he was accidentally shot with an airgun by a solicitor during a private court case, it was revealed yesterday.

Judge John Neilan, who serves on the bench in the Irish midlands, was struck by a pellet from the pistol as a lawyer showed it to the court. The colourful judge, best known for his own shooting from the lip, laughed off the incident and carried on hearing the case.

The Courts Service refused to comment, insisting it was bound by the rules of family law which prevented it from discussing anything to do with the case.

It is understood a solicitor had been exhibiting the non-lethal kid's toy when it was inadvertently discharged and a tiny pellet struck the judge.

The shooting occurred during an in-camera Family Law hearing in Longford District Court on Tuesday.

There were at least a half-a-dozen shocked witnesses including legal teams and court staff.

Last December, the colourful Judge Neilan offered an apology to anyone he had offended in his courtroom during his career claiming one of his greatest failings was his honesty.

IRISH EXAMINER
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/judge-shot-by-solicitor-during-hearing-101210.html

Judge shot by solicitor during hearing

By Dan Collins

Friday, September 18, 2009

A JUDGE who once jailed a man for talking in his court was accidentally shot by a solicitor brandishing a pellet gun during a family law hearing in Longford.

Judge John Neilan was hit by the shot as a solicitor, whose identity was not disclosed, was exhibiting an air pistol as evidence in a case.

The weapon was inadvertently discharged, firing a pellet which struck the judge.

The judge was not seriously injured in the incident and continued to hear the court case.

The incident occurred during a family law hearing on Tuesday in front of around half a dozen shocked witnesses.

As the media are excluded from family law cases, other details of the incident remain shrouded in privacy.

Regarded as outspoken, Judge Neilan earlier this year jailed a man for seven days for talking in court.

And then he warned that anybody appearing before him in Athlone District Court would be sent to prison to "learn some manners" if they interrupted proceedings.

Also this year the judge, referring to prisoners already serving jail terms, criticised the Department of Justice for "wasting taxpayers’ money" by bringing prisoners more than 160km out of their way to answer charges in midland courts.

In 2004, Judge Neilan announced that he would jail all convicted drunk drivers for a week pending sentence.

Legal experts, including then Justice Minister Michael McDowell, commented that such a move would be illegal and no good legal reason existed to remand a convicted drunk driver before handing down a sentence.

Judge Neilan said the comments by the minister were made to "intimidate and humiliate" him.

This summer, the judge spoke out strongly at Mullingar District Court against the abuse of children in the home.

"I will elevate children to a position of paramount importance. I am not going to sit in court and allow a nightmare to be visited on innocent children. I will vindicate their rights," he declared after hearing garda evidence that a clearly distressed nine-year-old child had witnessed a drink-fuelled domestic assault.

This, he said, amounted to an abuse of the child.



This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Friday, September 18, 2009

METRO
http://e-edition.metroireland.ie/2009/09/18/

Judge is shot by
airgun in court

BY ED CARTY
An outspoken judge found himself in the firing line when he was accidentally shot with an airgun during a private court case, it was revealed yesterday.

John Neilan, who serves on the bench in the Irish midlands, was struck by a pellet from the pistol as a lawyer showed it to the court.

The judge, who is best known for his own shooting from the lip, laughed off the attack and carried on hearing the case.

The Courts service refused to comment, insisting it was bound by the rules of family law which prevented it from discussing anything to do with the case.

It is understood a solicitor had been exhibiting the non-lethal weapon when it was inadvertently discharged and a tiny pellet struck the judge.

The shooting occurred during an in-camera family law hearing in Longford District Court.

There were at least a half a dozen shocked witnesses including legal teams and court staff.

Judge Neilan is one of the most outspoken and colourful judges sitting in Irish courts.

Last December, he offered an apology to anyone he had offended in his courtroom during his career, claiming one of his greatest failings was his honesty.

In the past, he has publicly criticised the Courts service and in a row over late sittings claimed its staff had no intelligence, but he later apologised.

Other targets of his dismay included Justice Minister Michael McDowell in 2004 in a row over the jailing of drink-drivers, as well as publicans for selling alcohol to young men.

Judge Neilan later refused to attend the opening of a new courthouse with the then minister.

Adding more links, not going to quote articles in full.

BELFAST TELEGRAPH
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/judge-shot-in-face-in-courthouse-14499779.html

Rovi

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/kfaueysneymh/rss2/

Gardaí to seize unlicensed firearms
By Sean O’Riordan

Friday, November 06, 2009


GARDAÍ in Cork have warned they will seize firearms if their owners don’t apply for the new €80 three-year licence.

It is estimated that more than 20% of guns in the city and county will either be handed up or seized because many holders won’t pay the new charge – especially if they have multiple guns.

There are currently an estimated 250,000 licensed firearms in the country and new licences are being issued in batches of 25,000.

The first batch of licenses should have been renewed by October 31 last.

However, a number of people still haven’t renewed, or handed over their guns.

Superintendent Con Cadogan, who is in charge of the Gurranabraher Garda District, recently organised a meeting with gun owners to outline the new licence requirements.

He said there were 1,680 firearms licences in his Garda district, but that some of the people who were in the first batch of renewals hadn’t renewed their licence by the October 31 deadline.

Already a number of people have handed in guns to the gardaí, saying they don’t want to renew the licence.

Supt Cadogan said these firearms had been taken to the Cork Steel Company where, under Garda supervision, they had been destroyed. He said that he believed around 20% of firearm licences wouldn’t be renewed.



This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Friday, November 06, 2009

Discussion thread HERE.

Rovi

http://www.independent.ie/farming/news-features/stick-to-rules-in-shooting-season-1938399.html

Stick to rules in shooting season
By Joe Barry
Tuesday November 10 2009


When you live in the countryside, the opportunities for recreation at a minimal cost are endless.

If you have planted some woodland, then these opportunities are greatly increased. If your woods are properly laid out with a mix of species and thick cover in suitable places, they will attract woodcock and pheasant and some extra income could even be earned by setting up a shoot, and leasing it to a shooting syndicate.

Farmhouse holidays that offer both shooting and walking always attract guests during the winter. Or best of all, just manage your woods for some sport for yourself and your friends.

The expanding tree cover in Ireland has brought a welcome increase in the habitat for wildlife and if you manage your woods for shooting, you are not only creating a great sporting facility but helping wildlife at the same time.

In the past, shooting rights were jealously guarded by large landowners. The tenants had to make do with a spot of poaching, bagging a pheasant or two and snaring the once plentiful rabbits. The only meat enjoyed by many families was harvested from the countryside and before myxomatosis was introduced, snaring and shooting rabbits kept us all fed.

During the last war, rabbits and pigeons were on sale in most butchers' shops but for some strange reason, wild game is no longer widely sold and has been supplanted by convenience foods from the supermarket.

This is hard to understand for there is nothing so delicious as a roast pheasant or duck or casseroled rabbit or pigeon.

As the winter closes in, huge flocks of pigeons arrive here from Europe and feast on beech nuts, but they also flock onto fields of oilseed rape and kale.

This habit doesn't endear them to tillage farmers but with a few decoys and a good hide you can help protect the crop and fill your freezer with wild pigeon while enjoying some great sport.


Fresh

Shooting and fishing are not only fun, they put food on the table and while the few fish I catch are usually eaten fresh, I am just coming to the end of the supply of duck, pheasant, woodcock, pigeon and rabbit that filled the deep freeze at the end of last season.

The shooting season for pheasant opens each year on the first day of November and to partake, all you need is a good dog, a gun, knowledge of the countryside and most importantly, the rules of the sport.

Some people enjoy driven shoots where the pheasants are reared in pens, released in to woodland and then, on selected days, driven by beaters over the waiting guns.

It's a version of the sport I am not fond of as I prefer to just walk quietly in the woods and along hedgerows with a dog and try and outwit the wily pheasant or woodcock in their own territory. Standing in one place and waiting for them to fly overhead just doesn't appeal and anyway, most of the fun lies in watching your dog work.

The rules of shooting are strict and while some idiots ignore them, they do so at the risk of their own safety and the welfare of our wildlife.

Loaded or unloaded, a gun must never be pointed at any person. It should be broken and unloaded when crossing fences and ditches and the safety device should only be released when actually firing a shot.

Never go shooting without a good, properly trained dog that will retrieve all shot game from hedges, briars or water. This will ensure that the odd winged bird is quickly found. No one who calls himself a sportsman would ever continue shooting without picking up everything that has been shot. A well-trained dog is a joy to shoot with. A badly trained one is a menace and will chase sheep, eat shot game and generally make a nuisance of itself.

Please do not shoot more than a brace of pheasants, duck or woodcock. That is enough for any one day and ensures that enough birds are left in the wild to breed and maintain numbers.

Never shoot a bird running on the ground and never shoot anything that you haven't first clearly identified.

Always ask permission from the farmer before entering his land and always close gates and take care that fences are not damaged.

If you have enjoyed a successful day, call around with a pheasant or two for the landowner.

A little bit of thought and attention will ensure you will be welcome there again. And if you come across a grey squirrel please shoot it immediately.

The trees of Ireland will thank you.

- Joe Barry

Irish Independent

Rovi

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/marksman-appeals-refusal-of-gun-licences-1945243.html

Marksman appeals refusal of gun licences

By Ralph Riegel
Tuesday November 17 2009



AN award-winning marksman said a garda decision to refuse him licences for six high-powered competition handguns was like asking Padraig Harrington to tee off in the US Masters with a hurley.

Patrick Herlihy -- a captain of Ireland's precision pistol team -- yesterday appealed to Cork District Court against the refusal by Garda Chief Superintendent Michael Finn to renew his firearms licences.

The appeal is effectively a test case for hundreds of Irish gun owners who face losing handguns under Justice Minister Dermot Ahern's new crackdown on gun licences.

The Firearms Act enacted last August effectively banned all handguns and short-barrelled weapons with the exception of Olympic competition .22 calibre guns.

Mr Herlihy -- a respected businessman -- said yesterday he could not understand how gardai had no problem granting him licences for four years, but now suddenly regarded the weapons as a potential threat.

Gardai stressed the licence refusals were not a personal reflection on Mr Herlihy, but the enforcement of new laws.

Mr Herlihy told Judge Dave Riordan that all six guns were essential to enable him to compete in various EGRF/World Association 1500 precision pistol competitions.

Judge Riordan directed that written submissions be made on Monday and he reserved judgment on the matter until November 30.

- Ralph Riegel

Irish Independent

Discussion thread HERE.
READ MOD NOTICE IN POST #6 BEFORE POSTING!

Rovi

Should handguns be allowed for sporting purposes or at the end of the day is a gun a gun?
http://utv.vo.llnwd.net/o16/Q102/2009/11/18/181109The6OClockPhoneIn.mp3

Rovi

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1201/1224259803866.html

Target-shooter loses appeal to keep guns

OLIVIA KELLEHER

A TARGET-SHOOTER, who claimed a Garda decision to refuse him licences for six high-powered competition handguns was like asking Pádraig Harrington to tee off in the US Masters with a hurley, yesterday lost an appeal of his case at Cork District Court.

Patrick Herlihy, who lives in the Carrigaline area of Co Cork, held licences for the weapons for four years. However, tightening up of firearms legislation earlier this year led to the refusal in October by gardaí in Cork to renew his licences for the Sig Sauer pistols and Smith and Wesson revolvers.

The appeal was effectively a test case for Irish gun owners who face losing handguns under Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern’s new crackdown on gun licences.

The Firearms Act enacted last August effectively banned all handguns and short-barrelled weapons with the exception of Olympic competition .22 calibre guns.

Mr Herlihy who is a member of the Shooting Sports Association of Ireland told Judge David Riordan last month that he needed all six guns to compete in various World Association 1500 precision pistol competitions.

He said he could not understand how the Garda Síochána had granted him licences for firearms for four years, but now suddenly regarded the weapons as a threat to society.

The court heard the weapons are always disassembled and locked away in safes when they are not in use.

Chief Supt Michael Finn, who turned down Mr Herlihy’s application for the firearms said his decision not to grant the licence was not in any way related to the applicant himself but arose out of a legislative change. He said public safety was paramount and that it was not in the interest of society to have such weapons in the hands of non-military or police personnel.

Meanwhile, ballistics expert, Det Insp Kevin Brooks, said the firearms for which Mr Herlihy applied for a licence for were of the type used by German and Dutch police as well as members of an Garda Síochána. He said the firearms were primarily associated with military and police use and were for “practical shooting.” He added the weapons were “combat” in nature and could cause devastation if they got in to the wrong hands.

Judge Riordan described Mr Herlihy as being a man of “exemplary character” but said that the legislative intent was to tighten the control on firearms.

He refused Mr Herlihy’s appeal application paying regard to the lethal nature of the weapons and the change in firearms legislation.

Rovi

http://www.argus.ie/news/minister-under-fire-from-gun-owners-1986573.html

Minister under fire from gun owners
PRIZE WINNING SHOOTERS REFUSED LICENCE

By Olivia RYAN
Wednesday December 23 2009
DUNDALK sharp shooters claim Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has targeted them in new legislation 'aligning us with criminals' after 23 hand gun licences were refused in the last month.

The has learned that new laws restricting hand gun ownership saw a group of local prize winning precision shooters forced to hand in their firearms in recent weeks.

Now, the group say they are intending to challenge the licence refusals, with 19 separate appeals lodged at Dundalk District Court last week.

'The minister is lumping us in with criminals in his attempts to tackle gun crime,' said Dundalk man Tom Brophy, who has been taking part in shooting competitions for the last two years.

He explained that as competitive shooters they have all been vetted by Gardaí, and are members of accredited firing ranges.

'There is also strict criteria around storage that we all must comply with, including proof of a monitored alarm system and that the firearm is broken up into separate pieces and locked in different safes.'

Prize winning shooter Tom Conachy added that he was 'shocked' to have received a letter of refusal when he applied for renewal of his licence last month, as he has been taking part in shooting competitions in Ireland and across Europe for decades.

'It seems the minister is targeting us in this new legislation, and is effectively banning the sport in Ireland. This is just the wrong way to tackle gun crime,' he added.

'We are legitimate sportspeople who brought a raft of medals back to Ireland from an international shooting competition in Germany just a few months ago. There were 22 medals, including nine golds. Tell me another sport where competitors represented Ireland so well?'

Both criticised the Minister for restricting ownership to 'Olympic' style handguns only, which they are rarely used in competitive sports in Ireland.

'The firearms used in competitive shooting are centre-fire pistols, but now we have been refused licences, so cannot take part in any events either at home or abroad.'

The Justice Minister issued a statement to the

denying that he is banning the sport, but controversially he added: 'Not all shooting activities are as legitimate and credible as some of their proponents would claim them to be.'

- Olivia RYAN

http://www.argus.ie/news/ahern-not-attempting-to-ban-competitive-shooting-as-sport-1986585.html

Ahern 'not attempting to ban competitive shooting' as sport

By Olivia RYAN
Wednesday December 23 2009



JUSTICE Minister Dermot Ahern denied that he is attempting to ban competitive shooting as a sport, but said 'not all shooting activities are as legitimate and credible as some of their proponents would claim them to be.'

In response to queries from the about the refusal of 23 handgun licence applications from competitive shooters in Dundalk last week, the minister issued a lengthy statement.

'My proposals on firearms control measures were announced in November 2008 and are contained in the Criminal Justice (M isce l laneous Provisions) Bill 2009.'

'I met with the Firearms Consultative Panel in early summer and listened to their views. While I undertook to reflect on the points they made, I reiterated the government's reasons for restricting access to handguns.'

The minister said that he had 'always made it clear that this ban was not brought forward in the context of tackling gangland crime.'

'The situation which has come about in recent years was not as the result of any considered policy decision and, in particular, it has been made clear that the government does not wish a handgun culture to take hold here.'

'I consider that handguns are different because they are easy to conceal, because they can discharge a large number of bullets rapidly and because they feature so often in gun rampages.

It is after such rampages that gun laws are invariably tightened up as can be seen in many countries around the world.'

Minister Ahern said that experience in other countries had shown that 'any relaxation of controls on gun ownership very quickly results in dramatic growth in firearms with many longer term negative d ow n s t r e am consequences.'

He also denied that he was attempting to ban the sport of competitive shooting.

'While it is not my function to create a hierarchy of merit among the various target shooting disciplines, Olympic shooting activities would be generally recognised as being in a special category.

'I am advised by the Garda Authorities that stolen firearms do subsequently get used in the commission of other criminal offences.'

'Not all stolen firearms used in the commission of these offences are recovered so it is not possible to say precisely how many formerly legally held handguns were used in the commission of criminal offence.'

- Olivia RYAN

Rovi

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/gardai-wait-on-ruling-over-objections-to-military-style-weapons-109180.html

Gardaí wait on ruling over objections to military-style weapons
By Sean O’Riordan
Friday, January 08, 2010

GARDAÍ will have to wait until next Tuesday for a court decision on their objection to the licensing of high-powered military police-style weapons.

Gardaí in Cork were the first in the country to object to members of the public holding such weapons, amid fears that they could be stolen by criminal gangs.

Gardaí have already won one case following a judgment in Cork District Court on November 30 last when Judge David Riordan refused a shooting enthusiast the right to licences for six handguns.

They included two Sig Sauer semi-automatics and four Smith and Wesson revolvers.

However, gardaí have made around 50 objections to gun licence applications in the county and it is expected that the majority of shooting enthusiasts will appeal these to the courts.

The second contested case was heard by Judge Michael Pattwell in north Cork last Tuesday.

He sat through a marathon nine-hour session during which he heard arguments from both the gardaí and the gun enthusiast’s solicitor.

Judge Pattwell said he would make his decision known next Tuesday.

He also put a number of restrictions on press reporting. These included not identifying the holder of the firearms.

Gardaí have said they regard the gun enthusiasts as being of good character, but are concerned that criminals will try and steal their weapons. Legislation was introduced on August 1 last which was aimed at tightening up the law on firearms.

This formed the basis for the objections lodged by Chief Superintendent Michael Finn who won the case on November 30 last – the first of its type in the country. At the time, he told Cork District Court that gardaí were concerned about the proliferation of such weapons.

He said he didn’t have an issue with granting licences for shotguns and rifles but was concerned about powerful handguns. Chief Supt Finn told that court sitting that he had to take into consideration public safety because of the threat of criminal gangs stealing such weapons.



This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Friday, January 08, 2010

Sparks

From todays Irish Times Weekend supplement:

'Wait until the squirrel has left the tree . . . then shoot'

Grey squirrels are such a pest that gun clubs are being paid to hunt them. But should they be in the firing line? asks BRIAN O'CONNELL

IT'S NOT often you get gun club members and environmental activists singing from the same hymn sheet. But when it comes to the grey squirrel, there aren't too many defenders of the native American rodent. The squirrels were introduced to Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century, when a group of creatures to be given as a gift to a woman at Castleforbes in Co Longford escaped. Ever since, they have been making life miserable for the native red squirrel and several species of Irish trees.

Now though, a concerted effort is under way to take on the squirrels, and Ireland's gun clubs are leading the fight back. An annual cull competition, which gun clubs say is supported by the Department of Agriculture, has seen over 2,000 grey squirrels killed in the past two years, with prize money of €1,600 going to the club with the most hits.

On the issue of whether or not the Department of Agriculture sponsors an annual squirrel shoot, a spokesperson from the Department says: "In relation to the National Association of Regional Game Councils, which represents more than 1,000 gun clubs with 26,000 members throughout the country, they have included grey squirrels in its annual cull of pest species. The Forest Service has provided funding for the last two years towards this project. This was part of the recommendations of the crisis report, which can be viewed on the Department's website."

That report states that "given that many individuals in possession of a firearm are members of gun clubs, it is of key importance that such clubs be brought on board with any national scheme to control the grey squirrel population".

Des Crofton, director of the National Association of Regional Game Councils, which represents some 900 gun clubs throughout Ireland, says his members are glad to be able to lend a hand in eradicating grey squirrels from the landscape.

"The grey squirrel is a pest species and has been aggressive in driving out the native red squirrel since being introduced to Ireland; 2008 was the first year of our competition, and there was great interest among shooting people towards these species. We never had a focused interest in squirrels up to that point," he says.

So, how does one go about shooting and killing a grey squirrel? "The most common way to shoot them is with a shotgun," says Crofton. "You can use a low calibre .22 rifle as well, but the preference is for a shotgun. With the rifle, it's just one single projectile, but with the shotgun you have a better chance of hitting them, as the shot spreads into pellets."

Crofton says most are shot within a 30-50m distance, and that the squirrels are harder to shoot if they are in trees. "You might see them in pairs, but often they are on their own," he says, "and there is no sound from them when they are shot. They are killed instantly, no matter where they are hit - with a shotgun the shot will get almost every part of the body."

Wildlife activist Éanna Ní Lamhna says that shooting grey squirrels in this way is both a humane and effective way of helping to eradicate the destructive species from Ireland. "The grey squirrels are a total and utter pest in this country, and shooting is more humane than using a trap.

"With traps you are liable to catch other species. Shooting them is the most humane way of killing them. Gun clubs have to take responsibility that they kill them, though, and don't leave injured animals, but I think for the most part they are responsible in this manner."

But is every squirrel caught as part of the annual squirrel shoot killed by a gun? It appears not. Andrew Dillon, whose own club won last year's cull competition, says more than half of the 214 squirrels his club caught were with traps. "A lot of them would be trapped and not shot at all," he says. "We'd use cages, and cage traps with springs that are small enough so it doesn't actually kill them at first. I would say that half are caught by traps and the rest by shooting. With traps, guys have to be out checking them every day. It wouldn't be something we'd put down and walk away from."

Many agree that whatever method is used, the grey squirrel's presence in Ireland is causing damage to both flora and fauna, and efforts to prevent their spread must now be accelerated. The red squirrel is in danger of disappearing in eastern parts of the country and, with news that the grey squirrel has crossed the Shannon, there are fears for western species also.

Yet Bernie Wright, press officer of the Alliance for Animal Rights (Afar), says it's not the grey squirrels' fault they have ended up in Ireland, and their mass culling is unjustified. "Man has created this problem and should ultimately take responsibility for introducing non-indigenous species. The grey squirrels should not have to pay with their lives," she says.

"If the thousands of euros in research funding used to poison, trap and shoot these innocent beings were used instead to possibly protect the trees, it might be a part solution."

As for the gun clubs' attempts to help eradicate the grey squirrel from Ireland and stand up for our native species, Wright is unconvinced. "Nor should they be the latest pot-shot targets for gun-toting, aspiring Rambos in gun clubs countrywide.

Rovi

http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/Brothers-refused-licences-for-Sauer.5968403.jp?articlepage=1
&
http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/Brothers-refused-licences-for-Sauer.5968403.jp?articlepage=2

Brothers refused licences for Sauer and Glock pistols

Published Date: 11 January 2010
By Petula Martyn

A JUDGE has dismissed an application by two brothers who sought licences for handguns which were described by a Superintendent as "the weapon of choice for criminals in Limerick city".

The brothers, who are gun enthusiasts and members of the Midlands National Shooting Centre in Offaly, applied for licences for a Sauer and a Glock pistol at Roxboro Garda Station in October 2008, a year before legislation banning handguns was introduced.

The men, who are in their 20s, brought a case before Limerick District Court claiming they met all the criteria as set out under the legislation which was in place at the time, and should have been granted the gun licences.

Superintendent Anne Marie McMahon told the court that she wrote to the brothers informing them that the Minister for Justice had brought to Cabinet the proposal to ban handguns and had advised gardai to give serious consideration as to whether or not they should issue licences for the weapons pending the enactment of the legislation.

Supt McMahon informed the brothers that she was not processing any application for anyone pending this legislation.

The court heard that the gun enthusiasts have four guns already, including shotguns and rifles, and that if the superintendent had granted the licence, there would have been six firearms in the house.

"I had certain concerns as to the security of the firearms," she said.

The legislation banning restricted firearms, which includes Glock pistols, came into effect on August 25, 2009, and the authorising officer has changed from the Superintendent to the Chief Superintendent.

Solicitor Catriona Dwane, on behalf of the applicants, put it to the Superintendent that the legislation at the time allowed her to grant the licence, and that the brothers had met all the necessary criteria.

She said the men were of good character and had installed a monitored alarm system in their home at a cost of €1,420 after a garda from Roxboro's crime prevention office inspected the house in the city suburbs. The solicitor said her clients had spent €700 and €1,950 for the two pistols.

Ms Dwane said there was no reason why the application should not have been approved.

Supt McMahon said the intensity of security needed for a Glock pistol is much higher than a rifle, adding the Glock pistols "have become a weapon of choice for criminals in Limerick city".

She said she receives between 10 to 12 applications a year “and that number is increasing”.

She said a number of these type of firearms have been stolen across the country which gave rise to concern and led to the new legislation.

The judge asked if the applicants satisfied the criteria under the new legislation.

“In my view, no,” Supt McMahon replied.

One of the applicants took to the stand and told the court he applied for the licence because he wished to do IPSC shooting in this country and abroad.

He said he did not have any difficulty securing a licence for a .22 rifle and a shotgun in the past. He said he bought a Sauer pistol from Germany in September 2008.

“Once I got the serial number I went to the garda station and I applied for the licence.”

In response to a question by Inspector Seamus Ruane about competitive shooting, the applicant said that he and his brother were amateur gun enthusiasts

“It’s not in the Olympic arena?” the Inspector asked. “No,” the applicant replied.

“I’d like to say that the Superintendent might have had concerns at the level of security but that wasn’t being mentioned to us at any point,” he said.

His brother took to the stand and described a Glock pistol as a semi-automatic 9mm firearm which is used in competition.

He said the gun is “popular because it is reliable and cheap”. “Is it fair to say it is easy to conceal?” Inspector Ruane asked. “If you were wearing a trenchcoat it would be easy to conceal any gun.”

The Inspector told him he was engaging in semantics and put it to the applicant that a Glock pistol is “the weapon of choice to criminals in this jurisdiction.”

The applicant said he was entitled to a licence under that legislation in place in October, 2008. “You were entitled to be considered for the licensing of a firearm” Inspector Ruane clarified. The applicant agreed.

Judge O’Donnell said the applications fall into a “grey area which the legislation does not cater for in my view”.

The judge noted that Supt McMahon neither granted nor refused the application, and that the law has changed in the interim.

He said he was not aware of any statutory obligation on the Superintendent to make a decision one way or another within a period of 90 days. “I’m going to dismiss the application,” the judge said, and stated that his decision should not bar the brothers from applying to the Chief Superintendent under the new legislation.

Rovi

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/kevin-myers/kevin-myers-the-essence-of-good-land-management-is-murder-2013072.html

Kevin Myers: The essence of good land management is murder

By Kevin Myers
Thursday January 14 2010

It's a simple truth that no Green politicians are elected by rural constituencies. Why? Because country people there know that nothing is naturally natural. Everything in the countryside is managed, either through the brutal methods of nature, or by the hand and will of man.

The Irish countryside is an utterly man-made artefact. Our hedgerows were planted centuries ago, and they naturally replenish themselves. But our tree population does not.

The Irish countryside, as we now know it, was the creation of conscious policy: just over 200 years ago, Irish landowners were given grants to plant trees. Those trees -- especially the beech -- are now coming to the end of their natural lives. This means that major strategic policies must be implemented in the next decade. We must soon start planting millions of trees in order to prevent an arboreal calamity devastating our landscape.

And just about the greatest threat to young trees are deer: yet it is this pest which is not merely now rampaging across the countryside, its population now out of control, but it is also emblematic of the Green's totally unreal relationship to nature.

The hunting ban lobby is perhaps the most powerful single element in the Green Party. Their imagined countryside is populated by wily, intelligent foxes, and stately proud stags. They're against cruelty of any kind. And "cruelty", in their Holy Child, Killiney, way of thinking is humans being beastly to animals. Well, actually, the term beastly means beastly for a reason: because this is how beasts behave.

The Ward Union stag hunt now faces closure. No doubt the squealing teenage girls of the Green Party have an image of the noble stag being torn limb from limb by the hunt, though this never happens. On the very few occasions where a stag is killed, it is shot by a hunt marksman, after being cornered by hounds. Natural selection genetically engineered most stags to escape the hounds' forebears, the wolf pack, so there is nothing more natural for a stag than to be hunted.

What is not "natural" is the simultaneous plantation of millions of saplings around the countryside. This is what we must start doing soon, if Ireland is to preserve the existing ecological balance: and the greatest threat to this project to replenish the tree population is our huge populations of deer.

Thousands of these animals must be killed, and the surviving population must be controlled by regular and systematic culls, which will probably involve flushing and shooting of hundreds of these animals annually, in systematic and measured massacres.

But it's almost impossible to raise this with the Green lobby, and thereby with a government over which it has a preposterous whip hand (if I may use that hunting expression), when the Green's interpretation of the "natural" world is largely informed by the culture created within Enid Blyton's nursery romps. Prepare, then, for the squeals of girlish horror when pictures of the mass killing of deer become public. And then think of the weepy response from Emma in Dublin 4, and her two friends Emma and Emma, plus Emily, Emily and Emily, plus possibly Jessica, Jessica and Jessica, when they see the heaps of hind and doe corpses that hunters have had to slay, so that these Emmas' and Emilys' and Jessicas' children may grow up in a land with proper, treed countryside.

The lifespan of our tree population is coming to its natural end. We have to embark upon the greatest project of conscious land management in two centuries, indeed, perhaps ever in Irish history.

What kind of trees do we want? Do we attempt to re-establish the elm? Should we restore our many Derrys as oak-groves? Do we opt for the indigenous oak and ash and lime? And if we go for the irresistibly handsome but imported beech, shall we then have to conduct a ruthless genocide of that American immigrant thug, the grey squirrel, which strips the bark off, and permanently deforms, beech saplings?

These are massive questions of land husbandry which Ireland must face, and almost immediately. We cannot embark upon a national re-plantation policy only when the trees start dying, or else we shall soon have a denuded landscape, with tree corpses, and tree babies everywhere, but with no young adult trees. Which will certainly happen if we allow an infantalised political agenda to inform our land management policies, in which a fantasy countryside of Bambi and Reynard colonises the decision-making faculties of government. For then, as when a tumour takes over in a brain, the patient will start talking tumourish.

Meanwhile, uncontrolled fox populations will mass slaughter chicken runs, simply for the fun of killing, as the demographically exploding deer population destroys entire young woodlands.

The essence of good land management is murder. Forget that truth, and you do not have a cultured landscape of woodlands and pastures, but a brutal, meadowless and malarial wilderness, in which wide-eyed fawns are recreationally torn limb from limb by wild animals. And when death is not violent, it comes through age and hunger, and cold, when a huntsman's bullet, or the almost instant end wrought by a pack of hounds, is mercy itself.

That's the dilemma, Emma.

[noparse]kmyers@independent.ie[/noparse]

- Kevin Myers

Rovi

http://www.corkman.ie/news/gardax00ed-fear-high-calibre-guns-could-fall-into-criminal-hands-2013354.html

Gardaí fear high calibre guns could fall into criminal hands

By MARIA HERLIHY [noparse]mherlihy@corkman.ie[/noparse]
Thursday January 14 2010

A NORTH CORK man who was refused a renewal licence for five guns which were described by a prosecuting Garda Inspector "as seriously high calibre" had his application adjourned until Friday in Mitchelstown by Judge Michael Pattwell.

At the end of a sevenhour district court sitting in Mallow last Wednesday, the judge adjourned the case until Tuesday. However, on Tuesday, the judge said he was not quite finished reading the lengthy submissions and the matter was put back to Mitchelstown Court.

At the Wednesday sitting last week, the applicant, who has won numerous accolades at all levels, told the judge that he was "duty bound," to have the best equipment he could afford for competing in competitions.

In a two-page letter to the applicant, who is aged in his 40s, Garda Chief Superintendent Mick Finn shot down the gun licence renewal application on the grounds of public safety.

The guns included a Smith and Wesson revolver and the combined weapons had an approximate value of €11,000, the court heard.

Chief Supt Finn said he viewed the application on its individual merits and deemed the weapons to be "police and military type weapons". He said that in his letter to the applicant he had outlined other non-restricted weapons which could be used up to Olympic standard competitions.

"Because of the element of criminal fraternity, the weapons which the applicant wants are the very type of weapons which the criminals want and desire. We do not need these weapons in the civilian world, Chief Supt Finn said.

Solicitor Eugene Murphy said Chief Supt Finn was acting ultra vires, (beyond his power) as his client was not a threat to society and did not have a criminal record.

Chief Supt Finn said that, of the 80 applications to date which he has reviewed, 95% of the applicants were "most upright, most law abiding people." However, he stressed that he had to keep public safety in mind.

the Chief Supt rejected the suggestion from Mr Murphy that he was operating a "blanket ban" on applications. He said there are 2,000 pistols in the country and 50 licences for restricted firearms had been granted in Cork West. He had received 30 applications of which 20 were refused so far.

Under the 2009 Firearms Act, a new subsection 4 has been introduced which gives a Garda Chief Supt the authority to look at each applicant's submission and decide whether or not to grant a renewal licence.

"My view is that certain weapons are police and military style weapons. We can take these weapons out of circulation. Again public safety is my main concern," said Chief Supt Finn.

Inspector Finbarr O'Sullivan also argued that the applicant would be shooting at targets that are designed to look very much like a human silhouette.

He also said that Chief Supt Finn has responsibility for 450,000 people and the weapons for which the applicant was seeking a licence were "totally excessive".

Retired Det Sgt William Brennan, a ballistics expert, said the guns for which the licence was being sought were "designed for target shooting only."

However, Det Insp Kevin Brooks said that licensed handguns and firearms have been stolen and used in gangland crime.

At Wednesday's sitting the judge instructed the media not to name or give the address of the applicant, nor outline any firing ranges discussed in legal argument.

At Tuesday's sitting in Mallow, Inspector Senan Ryan told Judge Pattwell that the media did not object to the reporting restrictions which were put in place by the judge.

- MARIA HERLIHY [noparse]mherlihy@corkman.ie[/noparse]

Rovi

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0128/1224263293485.html

450 given handgun licences

HARRY McGEE, Political Correspondent

SOME 450 licences for handguns have been issued in the State since last August despite new laws severely restricting their availability.

The information on the numbers was contained in a response to a parliamentary question tabled by Fine Gael deputy John Deasy to Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern.

Mr Deasy, last night expressed surprise at what appeared to be the high number of handgun licences being issued, notwithstanding the new laws.

Last night the Department of Justice said over half the applications made since last August had been refused, at least 450 cases.

A spokesman also said that it was too early to get a comprehensive breakdown so as to ascertain if the new restrictions have been applied as was envisaged in the law.

The Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, which commenced in August last year, applied much stricter restrictions on handgun licences.

A new three-year licence was introduced and applications were all treated as new rather than as renewals. The licensing authority is the Garda Chief Superintendent in the district.

Mr Ahern also said that “handguns have been generally banned since November 2008, with exceptions for Olympic-style target shooting.”

Rovi

http://www.corkman.ie/news/firearm-certs-held-back-as-owner-deals-with-transit-security-2036078.html

Firearm certs held back as owner deals with transit security


By COURT REPORTER
Thursday January 28 2010

A LEADING District Court judge read out his ten-minute judgement on a previously adjourned case, in which the applicant was refused the renewal licence for five guns by a Garda Chief Superintendent on the primary grounds of public safety.

At Mitchelstown District Court, Judge Michael Pattwell in his own lengthy submission said he felt that Garda Chief Superintendent Mick Finn's four points of refusal in a letter to the applicant did not "justify his refusal to renew the firearm certificates."

However, Judge Pattwell said that sufficient concern was raised on the "security of the weapons whilst in transit and this is important in considering public safety and good order of the community."

He adjourned the matter to Kanturk District Court on March 3, 2010, to enable the respondent to deal with the issue of security in transit before issuing firearm certificates for weapons."

He directed the respondent, who is ranked 28th in the world out of a list of 300 marked participants for target shooting, to "consider the decision in light of these appeal proceedings and with particular regard to security of the weapons whist in transit from the home of the owner/firearm certificate holder to any other place include shooting ranges, ports, airports, land boundary, gun smiths or any other place outside where the weapon is normally kept."

At a previous seven hour sitting in Mallow, the judge adjourned the matter to read three lengthy High Court submissions, O'Leary v Maher, Goodison v Sheahan and McCarron v Keary which dated between April and July 2008.

- COURT REPORTER

Rovi

http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/other/2010/0209/1224264099564.html

(Shooting segment highlighted in bold)

Majority see ISC funding cut

Irish Sports Council Funding: Special Olympics Ireland and Horse Sport Ireland are among the biggest losers in the scaled down funding announced by the sports council (ISC) today.

The 2010 funding to 59 national governing bodies (NGBs) totals €11,855,377, compared to last year’s €12,739,839, with nearly everyone taking a hit due to the economic circumstances.

The grants made available to 27 bodies under the Women in Sport programme are also down from €1,572,396 to €1,374,900.

The biggest drop, however, is reserved for Special Olympics Ireland which is down over €250,000 from €2,564,269 to €2,307,842. It does, however, retain the largest allocation by some distance ahead of the Athletics Association of Ireland (AAI).

The AAI was given €1,153,500 in total last year and has been granted €1,032,430 today. Horse Sport Ireland’s allocation drops nearly €100,000 to €890,295.

The Shooting Sports Association of Ireland receives nothing, having benefitted to the tune of €35,450 last year, though the Irish Clay Pigeon Shooting Association receives €35,000 after getting nothing in 2009.

The Croquet Association of Ireland and the Irish American Football Association also saw their allocations rise to €6,000 and €22,000 respectively.

ONAKAI, the Official National Amateur Karate Association of Ireland, was another to see its allocation cut altogether after receiving €11,500 last year.

Minister for Sport Martin Cullen said the allocations were “a further commitment to, and acknowledgement of, the key role of the sports’ governing bodies.”

“By minimizing the cut in the Irish Sports Council’s budget for 2010, supported by my government colleagues, I sought to protect the funding of the Council’s existing initiatives including today’s announcement of grants to the National Governing Bodies of Sport and to the Women in Sport programme.

“I believe we must maintain this investment to enable the Sports Council to carry out its important programmes, in particular the essential work of the National Governing Bodies of Sport.”

Ossie Kilkenny, chairman of the ISC added: “The Council is delighted to be in a position to announce substantial grants in the governing bodies in 2010. The sports bodies have benefitted from consistent investment in recent years, reflected in stronger organisations delivering essential sports programmes to the community. It is important that the investment is maintained and progress in sports development sustained into the long term”.

Vegeta

Link here

NOTICE: In the interests of best security practice as advocated by An Garda Síochána, all the Irish shooting representative bodies, and in line with Boards.ie/Shooting forum policy, certain details which may identify an individual firearm owner, their firearms or their security arrangements, have been removed.

Handgun licences granted after legal appeal

By Anne Lucey

Friday February 12 2010

A district court judge yesterday overturned a refusal by a garda chief superintendent to grant a certificate for <SNIP> to a father and son for their target-shooting hobby.

The chief superintendent had said the guns were not suitable for target practice and it was his view civilians should never be allowed them as they could be the target of kidnappings by criminal elements who wanted to get their hands on semi-automatic weapons normally used by police forces.

However, ordnance expert Seamus O'Dromma, a witness for the father and son, said the weapons were modified to improve the accuracy of their fire and so were designed for target shooting.

He said the guns were specifically designed for target shooting and were not military and police weapons.

<SNIP>, retired from the Army, and a licensed dealer in firearms, appealed against the refusal of Kerry Garda Supt John Kerin, to allow him a firearms certificate to license a <SNIP>, a <SNIP>, and a <SNIP>, as well as a <SNIP>.

His son <SNIP>, of the same address, appealed against Supt Kerin's refusal to grant a certificate for a <SNIP> and a <SNIP>.

Both men told the court target they needed handguns of that calibre to compete in international competitions such as the WA 1500 Association, and the higher score Bulls Eye competition.

Both men had undergone training and had training certificates for the weapons. No question had ever been raised about their character.

Judge James O'Connor allowed the appeals, but in the case of the <SNIP> amended the terms so that it could be used only three times a year.

Killorglin District Court heard how the weapons were modified for static target shooting.

However Detective Inspector Kevin Brooks, head of garda ballistics school, said the hand guns were "fundamentally police combat guns" used by the military or the police because of their proven killing power.

Supt John Kerin said new legislation introduced in 2009 meant good character was no longer enough to be allowed hold a license for powerful, high-calibre, semi-automatic hand guns.

Reason

There had to be good reason to possess them, he told Supt Michael O'Donovan, who was questioning.

The Criminal Justice Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2009 had imposed extra conditions including good and sufficient reason to possess handguns of high calibre, and that the firearm must be appropriate for its intended use, he told the court.

"Different chief superintendents have different views. My point is these guns are to kill people and to defend people," he added.

"There should be no guns of this type in the hands of civilians. I don't believe target shooting is a good and sufficient reason."

However, Mr O'Dromma said the weapons were designed for target shooting.

- Anne Lucey

Irish Independent

Rovi

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0212/1224264273693.html

NOTICE: In the interests of best security practice as advocated by An Garda Síochána, all the Irish shooting representative bodies, and in line with Boards.ie/Shooting forum policy, certain details which may identify an individual firearm owner, their firearms or their security arrangements, have been removed.

Court overturns handgun licence refusal

ANNE LUCEY in Killorglin

A DISTRICT Court has heard how there are 230,000 licensed guns in the State, or one gun for every 16 people. Some 500 of these are high-calibre handguns or pistols, and are restricted.

A Garda chief superintendent, whose refusal to grant a certificate for six powerful handguns to a father and son for target shooting, was overturned at Killorglin District Court yesterday, said there were far too many powerful high-calibre handguns in the State.

They were unsuitable for target practice, he said, and it was his view civilians should never be allowed them as they could be the target of kidnappings by criminal elements who wanted to get their hands on semi-automatic weapons normally used by police forces.

<SNIP>, who is retired from the Army and a licensed dealer in firearms, appealed against the refusal of Kerry Garda Chief Supt John Kerin to allow him a firearms certificate to license a <SNIP>, a <SNIP>, a <SNIP> and a <SNIP>.

His son <SNIP>, of the same address, appealed against Chief Supt Kerin’s refusal to grant a certificate for a <SNIP> and a <SNIP>.

Both men told the court they needed handguns of that calibre to compete in international competitions such as the WA 1500 Association, and the higher score Bulls Eye competition. Both had training certificates for the weapons. No question had ever been raised about their character.

<SNIP> was a founder member of <SNIP> gun club which had 100 members, and he had built a shooting range to which there was very restricted access. Judge James O’Connor allowed the appeals, but in the case of the <SNIP> amended the terms so that it could be used only three times a year, which the court was told was necessary to keep the gun in good condition.

Killorglin District Court heard how the weapons were modified for static target shooting. However, Det Insp Kevin Brooks, head of the Garda ballistics school, said the handguns were “fundamentally police combat guns” used by military or police forces because of their proven killing power.

One gun, a <SNIP>, was described by witnesses as a rare antique in pristine condition, the same as used by Éamon de Valera when he had been fighting.

Chief Supt Kerin, the head of the Garda in Kerry, said legislation introduced in 2009 meant good character was no longer enough to be allowed to hold a licence for high-calibre, semi-automatic handguns. There had to be good reason to possess them, he told Supt Michael O’Donovan.

<SNIP> were people of good character and had been granted licences under 2006 legislation, he said.

The Criminal Justice Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2009 had imposed extra conditions including good and sufficient reason to possess handguns of high calibre, and that the firearm had to be appropriate for its intended use, he told Supt O’Donovan.

“Different chief superintendents have different views. My point is, these guns are to kill people and to defend people.”

The weapons were semi-automatic and he had concerns about the so-called “tiger” kidnappings by criminal elements, Supt Kerin told Michael O’Connell, barrister for <SNIP>.

Chief Supt Kerin said that, in his opinion, “500 [high-calibre handguns] is far too many in a country like Ireland. There should be no guns of this type in the hands of civilians. I don’t believe target shooting is a good and sufficient reason.”

Other lower-calibre guns, which were not on the restricted list and which had been agreed by the national Target Shooters Association and the Olympic Council of Ireland could be just as effective for “putting a hole in a target”, the chief superintendent said.

An expert witness for <SNIP> told the court there were three categories of firearms; prohibited, which meant they could not be licensed to civilians; restricted in the case of powerful handguns, and unrestricted.

There were more than 230,000 licensed guns in the Republic, or one gun for every 16 people. These included 500 licences for restricted firearms as in the case before the court, and no new such licences were to be granted.

After nearly three hours of evidence, the judge said he was satisfied that the applicants wanted them for sporting competition. He was satisfied they were as well trained as any military personnel to use the weapons.

Judge O’Connor granted the appeal.

Rovi

http://www.sbpost.ie/news/ireland/up-to-50-handgun-owners-to-mount-legal-challenges-over-licences-47402.html

Up to 50 handgun owners to mount legal challenges over licences

14 February 2010 By John Burke Public Affairs Correspondent

The state is facing up to 50 legal challenges by the owners of high-calibre handguns who are seeking to have licences issued, despite being refused approval by Gardaí.

The National Association of Regional Game Councils (NARGC), which is the country’s largest gun-owners’ lobby group, plans to launch the challenges after successfully challenging two refusals by a senior garda to issue licences for handguns.

Des Crofton, national director of the NARGC, which has 28,000 members across Ireland, said the association’s members had encountered ‘‘totally unacceptable behaviour’’ by some senior gardaí in their refusal to issue handgun licences to previously-licensed shooters.

Crofton said that the association would be challenging the implementation of the state’s new firearms licensing system, which he said had descended into ‘‘mayhem’’.

He said that he would be instructing the association’s solicitors, William Egan and Associates, to place advertisements in shooting magazines, in which the NARGC will seek expressions of interest from claimants who were refused handgun licences.

There are believed to be as many as 500 firearms, including handguns for competition shooting, which come under the ‘restricted’ category in the new licensing regime, for which gardaí are obliged to take special care in issuing licences.

The NARGC led a successful challenge to the state’s former gun licensing policy between 2002 and 2006, in which it challenged refusals to issue handgun licences under a regime which had existed since the 1970s.

Those legal challenges paved the way for the issuing of more than 1,700 handgun licences to shooting enthusiasts, competition shooters and gun club members in the past three years. Last week, a District Court in Kerry overturned the refusal by a Garda chief superintendent to grant a certificate for six powerful handguns to a father and son for target shooting.

Superintendent John Kerin had argued in court that there were too many high-calibre handguns in the state, which were not suitable for target practice and posed a risk to national security if stolen.

However, the judge overturned the refusal, on the basis that the men had said they required the firearms for competing in international sporting competitions.

Rovi

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/certificate-is-needed-to-keep-firearm-at-home-2066321.html

Certificate is needed to keep firearm at home

By Shane Phelan
Wednesday February 17 2010

FIREARMS, such as shotguns, hunting rifles, handguns and airguns, can be legally held in the home provided the owner has been issued with a firearms certificate by their local garda superintendent.

The superintendent will only issue a certificate if they are satisfied the owner is of sound mind and has a legitimate reason for owning the firearm, such as participation in gun sports.

A certificate costs €80 and lasts three years. You have to be over 16 to apply.

For the purposes of certification, weapons are classified as "restricted" or "non-restricted". Non-restricted firearms refer to full-length single or double barrel shotguns and short firearms used in Olympic events. Restricted refers to most other types of firearms.

Strict criteria apply to the storage of firearms, depending on the type and quantity of weapons held.

Owners of one non-restricted shotgun are required by law to disassemble the gun and store each part securely and separately. It also has to be fitted with a trigger lock.

Owners of one restricted firearm, or up to three non-restricted firearms, must store each weapon in a gun safe, while a person with two restricted firearms, or more than three non-restricted firearms, must use a safe with an alarm and a thief-resistant lock.

- Shane Phelan
Irish Independent

Rovi

http://www.wexfordpeople.ie/news/handgun-owners-in-court-appeals-2067550.html

NOTICE: In the interests of best security practice as advocated by An Garda Síochána, all the Irish shooting representative bodies, and in line with Boards.ie/Shooting forum policy, certain details which may identify an individual firearm owner, their firearms or their security arrangements, have been removed.

Handgun owners in court appeals
MAJORITY OF APPLICATIONS REFUSED

Wednesday February 17 2010

A NUMBER of handgun owners in Wexford who have been refused licences for them this year are appealing the decisions to the district court.

Chief Superintendent John Roche this year refused the vast majority of applications for pistols and revolvers received throughout the Wexford Garda Division, with his decisions on the matter made in January.

This was in marked contrast to previous years and follows the introduction of strict new legislation late last year by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern in a bid to reduce the numbers of handguns in circulation.

It's understood that the majority of those appealing the Chief Superintendent's decisions to Wexford District Court are shooting enthusiasts and many are members of a local club that participates in competitions.

At Wexford District Court on Monday the appeals on behalf of 10 handgun owners were adjourned until March 15 next.

It's expected that Judge Donnchadh O Buachalla will, on that date, fix a date to hear the appeals.

Wexford town based solicitor Nigel Allen is representing three of the appellants, while his fellow Wexford solicitor Tim Finn is representing six of them, the court heard.

Under the new legislation, Chief Superintendent Roche made each decision on whether to grant or refuse firearms licences for the handguns on its own individual merits and the court appeals will take a similar format.

It's expected that Judge O Buachalla will have to set aside an entire court day to hear the Wexford appeals.

The character of the appellants will not be called into question. Instead, the appeals will focus on the nature of the handguns.

While shooting enthusiasts say they are merely target pistols, the Gardaí are now arguing that they are military or police style weapons designed for combat use.

The appellants whose cases were adjourned last Monday at Wexford District Court are as follows:

<SNIP>, who was refused a Firearms Certificate for a <SNIP>.

<SNIP>, who was refused a Firearms Certificate for a <SNIP> and a <SNIP>. <SNIP>, who was refused a Firearms Certificate for a <SNIP>. <SNIP>, who was refused a Firearms Certificate for a <SNIP>. <SNIP>, who was refused a Firearms Certificate for a <SNIP> and a <SNIP>. <SNIP>, who was refused a Firearms Certificate for a <SNIP>. <SNIP>, who was refused a Firearms Certificate for a <SNIP>. <SNIP>, who was refused a Firearms Certificate for a <SNIP>, a <SNIP> and a <SNIP>. <SNIP>, who was refused a Firearms Certificate for a <SNIP>.

<SNIP>, Wexford who was refused a Firearms Certificate for a <SNIP>. Last week Des Crofton, national director of the National Association of Regional Game Councils (NARGC), which has 28,000 members across Ireland, claimed the association's members had encountered 'totally unacceptable behaviour' by some senior Gardaí in their refusal to issue handgun licences to previously-licensed shooters.

Mr Crofton said that the association would be challenging the implementation of the State's new firearms licensing system, which he said had descended into 'mayhem'.

Meanwhile, Garda refusal of a licence for a <SNIP> to <SNIP> will be challenged at a later date. The case was mentioned at Enniscortthy District Court in Ardcavan last week where Inspector Pat Cody indicated that the Gardaí would be resisting the application to have the refusal overturned. Judge Donnchadh Ó Buachalla set April 21 as the date for hearing of the matter.