Press Clippings

Rovi

POST INSERTED 12/01/2008 TO PRESERVE CONTINUITY.

Today FM, The Last Word with Matt Cooper, Thursday-8/1/2009 6pm-7pm:
http://audio.todayfm.com/audio/20090108170010.mp3
Segment of interest: 07:00-17:45

Above segment containing interview with Paul Williams (Sunday World Crime Editor) and Cyprian Brady (Fianna Fáil TD):
http://www.mediafire.com/?tn0mnd7mnh4

The segment attached below is the last 1:45 minutes of the above.

Rovi

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0109/breaking18.htm

Raiders escape with firearms from Tipperary house

A group of raiders escaped with a number of weapons from the house of a licensed firearms dealer in Co Tipperary last night.

A garda spokesman said the four men were lying in wait outside the house in Cregg, Carrick on Suir, for the owners to return from a night out.

When the couple returned at 1:30am the raiders, one of them armed, forced them into the house and stole approximately 30 firearms including pistols and rifles.

The raiders then made their getaway in the family car, a beige-champagne coloured Honda Civic saloon with the registration number 03-WX-5048.

No shots were fired and no one was injured in the raid. There were two other people in the house at the time.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Gardaí at Carrick on Suir on 051 642040, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.

Gardaí say they are particularly interested in locating the whereabouts of the car taken or any sightings of it since this incident occurred.

Rovi

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0109/carrickonsuir.html

30 firearms stolen in Tipperary raid

A number of firearms were stolen during an armed robbery at a gun dealership in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary.

The incident happened at around 1.30am this morning at a licensed firearms dealership in Cregg.

The owners of the premises were confronted by four men, at least one of whom was armed, when they returned from a night out.

They were taken into the house which had two other occupants.

An assortment of approximately 30 firearms were taken, including pistols and rifles.

The couple's beige/champagne coloured Honda Civic Saloon - registration 03WX5048 - was also taken.

No shots were fired and no one was injured in the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to contact gardaí at Carrick on Suir on 051 642040, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.

Rovi

http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/30-guns-stolen-from-firearms-dealer-in-co-tipperary-1596654.html

30 guns stolen from firearms dealer in Co Tipperary

Gardai are investigating the theft of up to 30 guns from a licensed firearms dealership in Co Tipperary early this morning.

The owners of the dealership in the Cregg area of Carrick-on-Suir returned home from a night to find four men waiting outside the premises.

At least one of the men was carrying a firearm.

The couple were taken into the house and the gang proceeded to steal an assortment of guns, including pistols and rifles, before fleeing in the family car.

No shots were fired during the robbery and nobody was injured.

The Gardai say they are particularly keen to locate the stolen car - a beige or champagne-coloured Honda Civic Saloon with the registration 03 WX 5048.

Rovi

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/gardai-fear-gun-thefts-linked-to-ira-renegades-1598256.html

Gardai fear gun thefts linked to IRA renegades

By JIM CUSACK
Sunday January 11 2009

Gardai are concerned that last week's raid on a County Tipperary gun dealer might be linked to a similar raid carried out in Fermanagh last November which is believed to have been the work of dissident republicans.

It is not exactly clear which of the small dissident groups -- there may be as many five of them -- was behind the raid in Garrison in Fermanagh on November 22. But it is known the "Continuity" IRA is active in that area and last year carried out three landmine and one mortar attack on police in the county.

Dissident republicans linked to the "Continuity" IRA are also known to be active in the south-east area not far from the scene of Thursday night's raid on the dealer in Carrick-on-Suir, and have previously been found training in the Commeragh Mountains.

The dissidents are short of weapons and gardai believe that the raids on gun dealers might be a prelude to them mounting armed robberies to raise finance.

The raid in Tipperary was similar in scale to the raid in Fermanagh. The gun store owner, Tony Keevan, and his partner were confronted by the armed gang as they pulled up to the gate of their country home about four miles outside Carrick at 1.30am on Friday morning. They forced Mr Keevan to open the strong room and took a selection of 30 weapons that included semi-automatic handguns, rifles and shotguns.

A similar number of weapons including Glock and Sig automatic handguns were stolen in Fermanagh when the gang forced their way into the dealer's shop after it had closed and forced him at gunpoint to open his saferoom.

The robberies have again highlighted police concerns on both sides of the Border of the proliferation of legally-held firearms, including the types of automatic pistols much sought after by criminal and terrorist groups. At least 1,200 legally-held weapons have been stolen in the Republic in the past five years. In the North there has been an increase in thefts of legally-held weapons in areas where dissident republicans are known to be active.

One area giving concern to police and security services in the North is east Tyrone where former provisional republicans appear to have broken away and have allied themselves with other break-away elements in the Republic, Belfast and north Armagh.

The Tyrone group also appears to have access to Provisional IRA weapons and Semtex explosive which was not "decommissioned" despite claims from the organisation's leadership in 2006.

The group styling itself the "Real" IRA, responsible for the Omagh bombing massacre in 1998, has also re-activated and is intent on carrying out attacks on police in Northern Ireland. It is known the organisation is re-organising and recruiting and is targeting, particularly, young Catholics who have joined the PSNI. Garda surveillance operations on this group have been stepped up amid fears of attacks being mounted in the North.

The "Real" IRA is led by a man living on a farm straddling the Louth-Armagh border who is heavily involved in cigarette and fuel smuggling.

Another group, simply styling itself 'Oglaigh na hEireann', has also emerged in the past two years and is believed to be comprised of former Provisional republicans mainly in the north-west area.

The INLA is also actively recruiting young men in Belfast and in parts of Dublin. It is devoting most of its energies to extorting money from drug dealers.

Support for these groups is very limited and the Garda and PSNI have had considerable successes in making arrests and seizing small caches of weapons and home-made explosive devices.

- JIM CUSACK

Rovi

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/community-is-key-to-winning-war-on-gangs-1599612.html
Relevant section highlighted in bold.

Community 'is key to winning war on gangs'

By Tom Brady Security Editor
Tuesday January 13 2009

BUILDING a fruitful working relationship between gardai and the community will make it easier for people to give evidence against thugs who terrorise their area, says Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy.

He is hopeful that the new focus on community policing will also yield information in solving gangland crime.

In an interview with the Irish Independent, Cmsr Murphy said the "re-energised" concept of community partnership would be based on adapting a variety of policing models to suit local needs.

"What is very appropriate to an inner city area would not be suitable in a rural community," he said.

The commissioner said projects which were operated on a trial basis in Dublin's north inner city; Tallaght; Thomastown, Co Kilkenny; and the Inishowen Peninsula, in Co Donegal, would form the main planks of his new campaign.

He believed the recently established joint policing committees would provide gardai with a more meaningful voice within local districts.

"I'm talking about partnerships with people who do voluntary work, like sporting bodies and community leaders, but also about enforcement because that's a major part of it and about visibility," he added.

The community policing concept will operate alongside other local initiatives to tackle the crimes that affect the day-to-day lives of people, such as burglaries.

Burglaries

Cmsr Murphy revealed that the number of burglaries had increased in the past year.

The garda authorities would focus resources into areas where burglaries and other crimes were on the increase, he said.

The number of firearms and drugs being recovered clearly proved that gardai were enjoying success against the gangs and he believed the ban on handguns would help prevent Irish society from developing an entrenched gun culture.

He recognised that some types of gangland crime had proven easier to tackle. "With drugs, you have to carry the commodity. With these gang shootings, it happens very quickly.

"Essentially, if you can commit the crime, do the killing, dispose of the weapons and not leave any forensic evidence, there is a great chance it will be difficult for the police to get enough evidence to get the Director of Public Prosecutions to bring about a charge. That's the challenge that's facing us," he added.

Cmsr Murphy said that while the gardai were achieving successes with seizures on the supply side of the drugs problem, there was a need for society to be working harder on the demand side.

He reminded people who paid money for a line of cocaine that they were contributing to the profits of the dealers.

The commissioner also highlighted the "propensity to resort to violence", particularly among young males. "We will shortly be rolling out a knife-awareness campaign and will be focusing on cities like Dublin, Cork and Limerick, where we see a need.

"There is a propensity in our communities to resort to that extreme violence for seemingly lesser reasons than might have happened in the past."

- Tom Brady Security Editor

Rovi

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/tipoff-leads-officers-to-weapons-stolen-by-traveller-gangs-1600613.html

Tip-off leads officers to weapons 'stolen by Traveller gangs'

By Tom Brady Security Editor
Wednesday January 14 2009

A CACHE of firearms recovered by gardai after a tip off consisted of guns and ammunition stolen in a series of burglaries by Traveller gangs.

The haul was being examined last night by garda ballistic experts after officers raided a hideout where the weapons were stashed.

Detectives believe the firearms were about to be sold or hired out to a local gang. They were intercepted in an intelligence-led operation.

The haul consisted of five shotguns, two rifles and a quantity of ammunition hidden on waste ground near Palmerstown Wood in the Clondalkin area of west Dublin.

The search was part of a planned operation on Monday night by gardai from the Dublin west division and the south central inner-city crime task force.

Officers said last night the weapons had been stolen in burglaries from several homes in counties Kildare, Carlow, Wexford and Meath over the past few months.

They are satisfied that gangs of Travellers based in the west of the city and on the capital's southside were responsible for the break-ins. Detectives think the weapons were still under the control of those gangs when they were found, and were about to be shifted.

"We suspect they were being stored in a temporary hide to await collection. They were about to be distributed to a local crime outfit and were either ready to be sold off or hired out for a number of jobs", one officer said.

Initiative

Over the past four years, 1,267 legally held firearms, including 31 handguns, have been stolen and only 373 recovered.

Since the setting up of the garda's anti-crime initiative, Operation Anvil, in late 2005, more than 1,200 stolen firearms have been recovered in Dublin and almost 1,000 in the rest of the country.

- Tom Brady Security Editor

Rovi

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0119/breaking49.htm
Relevant sections highlighted in bold.

Ahern launches new measures to tackle crime

AOIFE CARR

A ban on handguns, new surveillance powers to deal with gangland crime and a DNA database are among measures set to be introduced by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Dermot Ahern in the coming weeks.

Mr Ahern made the announcement at the launch of the State’s first White Paper on crime today saying tackling crime was his “number one priority.”

The White Paper will include a review of current law enforcement issues and will investigate the implications of changing technologies and social trends, the role of victims and witnesses and the part played by sanctions and diversion.

It will also look at differing approaches to crime prevention and early intervention both nationally and internationally.

Speaking today Mr Ahern said the policy document would be at the heart of a new long-term strategy to fight crime.

“It will be the blueprint to serve successive governments for decades ahead. To that end, it will be the most wide-ranging and comprehensive policy development exercise ever undertaken in this area,” he said.

"In developing the White Paper, I want the input of communities and ordinary people as well as criminologists and social scientists, and those at the front line in the fight against crime."

Anyone interested in contributing to the policy document should send their views to the Department of Justice focusing on which subjects should be addressed.

Updates on the White Paper process will be carried in a dedicated section of the Department's website www.justice.ie and an email address whitepaperoncrime@justice.ie has been set up for receiving feedback.

Sparks

An interesting flashback to the Sunday Tribune, September 2006:

What sort of gangster would hand in his gun to the gardai?
THE BIG QUESTION Michael McDowell's gun amnesty is unlikely to have any effect on levels of violent crime, says John Burke
Murder and manslaughter, especially the gangland-style assassinations of young Dublin men, are at an unprecedented high. Gun killings last year alone made up one-third of all violent deaths in Ireland. What is Michael McDowell's new amnesty proposing to do about it all?

The justice minister has created a brief window of opportunity for anyone who is in possession of an illegal firearm who wishes to dispose of it. Several thousands of illegal guns are in the country at the moment, but these vary widely in type.

The consensus among senior gardai is that illegal high-performance handguns . . .

the ones used most frequently by organised criminals and assassins . . . are brought into the state along with shipments of drugs from Spain and Morroco. There is no proper estimate on how many of these lethal pistols are in criminal hands, but there is clearly no shortage. A young thug who wants to settle a score with an adversary can get a handgun for as little as 200.

There is also a large number of stolen shotguns . . . an estimated 1,300 were stolen in one recent three-year period studied.

Many of these have been adapted as socalled 'sawn-off ' shotguns for criminal use in robberies. Whether many, or indeed any, of these types of guns will be handed over to gardai is in huge doubt, however.

So how new and revolutionary is this approach to tackling serious crime and homicide?

New? Hardly. The justice minister has been talking about a firearms amnesty for some time. Police forces in the US and Britain have staged similar amnesties for several years, with limited success. Then British home secretary, David Blunkett, described a 2003 nationwide gun amnesty there as a "great success", after 20,000 guns were handed over to police. Over 1,400 firearms and over 34,600 rounds of ammunition were surrendered to the London Metropolitan Police alone. But critics noted that the majority of weapons handed in were old, unused or simply used for hunting and few were relinquished in the country's inner cities. The haul did not noticeably reduce gun-related crime.

An earlier amnesty in 1996 saw over 23,000 guns handed in to UK police. Mark Edwards, a community worker in Aston, Birmingham, was among the critics of the amnesty. Many said that it was pointless asking people to deliver illegal guns to police stations, as is being done with the Irish amnesty.

"I told the police . . . the gangsters with the guns don't want to go to the police station and drop off a weapon, " Edwards told the BBC in an assessment of the 2003 UK amnesty.

If there's not much sign that gun amnesties reduce crime to any significant degree, why has Michael McDowell spent so much time speaking about it and more importantly, why is he bothering to launch it now?

Time and time again, McDowell has used the occasion of a tragic gun murder that has gripped the public's attention to reference the proposal . . . particularly when his own abilities as 'justice czar' have been under severe criticism.

He was eager to talk about how an amnesty could prove a partial panacea to gun crime in responce to the outrage following the fatal shooting of young motherof-one Donna Cleary at a Coolock house party in January.

Not surprisingly, some commentators have questioned whether McDowell has repeatedly used the proposed amnesty as a means to fend off criticism of his own department and gardai. Up until this week, the planned amnesty was all bones and no meat, it has been suggested.

And how exactly will the whole process work?

As of last week, members of the public surrendering illegally held guns will escape prosecution for not having licensed the firearm. However, the amnesty does not offer immunity from prosecution for more serious gun crime. McDowell says that any gun-toting felon who wishes to surrender their sidearms may do so at any garda station nationwide. But it's not an anonymous process.

"When they hand in the weapon, they will be simply asked to give their name and address and supply proof of identity. All surrendered weapons will be forensically tested and, where any is found to have been used in a crime, the forensic evidence and the weapon will be admissible in the prosecution of that crime, " McDowell said.

Although the identity of the person handing in an illegal weapon will be stored along with the identity of the weapon, the minister gave his assurance that the individual who handed in the gun "will not be prejudiced by the fact they brought the weapon forward". Unless, of course, they used the gun to commit a crime.

So now that the amnesty is finally up and running, what type of gunman or woman is likely to hand over his or her weapons?

It is highly unlikely that there will be a sudden stampede of trained assassins rushing to hand over their polished Walther PPKs and Glock automatic pistols and accompanying silencers and telescopic sights. It is just as unlikely that the minister's announcement of last week's anmesty will prompt a surge of civic responsibility among the barely literate drug-using youths who comprise the many splintered drugs gangs of Dublin, Limerick and urban wastelands nationwide.

What is more likely is that some elderly bachelor farmer in the back-of-beyond may finally decide to take his greatgrandfather's long-unlicenced old flintlock gun from beneath the floorboards of the doghouse and finally dispose of it into the hands of his friendly local garda sergeant.

Only time will tell if the many sheepworrying foxes shot dead by this shadowy rural figure will finally see justice done. Or the old farmer may just decide to keep his rusty shotgun a little longer, given that Anto from Coolock is keeping his set of Beretta 9mm pistols. In fact, the entire process could backfire on the minister and turn into a farce, of sorts.

Similar gun amnesties across the world have usually resulted in at least one unexpected type of weapon being surrendered to police. In British Columbia in Canada this year, an elderly woman handed in a rocket launcher to stunned Mounties. The anti-aircraft rocket launcher, complete with instructions in French and English, was discovered by the woman and her husband when they were doing renovations to their home in 1973. They were afraid to say anything about it and hid the weapon in their attic. The husband has since died and his widow told police she was relieved to get it out of the house.

Rovi

http://www.herald.ie/national-news/detective-has-his-gun-stolen-form-home-1606627.html
Relevant sections highlighted in bold.

Detective has his gun stolen form (sic) home

By Cormac Looney
Monday January 19 2009

Gardai are this evening hunting a burglar who stole a handgun from a detective’s home.

Officers are urgently trying to trace the thief, who broke into the garda’s home in Co Meath in what they believe was an “opportunistic raid”.

The criminal stole the Sig semi-automatic pistol and 30 rounds of ammo. The incident occurred a day before a confidential garda document was reportedly left in a Dublin coffee shop.

It related to an ongoing probe into organised crime and detailed a covert surveillance operation.

A major criminal is also named in the file. He is thought to have played a significant role in recent raids on cash-in-transit vans and is also a suspected tiger kidnapper.

A large-scale inquiry is under way today in an attempt to recover the stolen gun. It is thought to be standard issue for members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which investigates murders and serious offences.

Each garda detective is issued with a personal weapon that is their responsibility. It is normally stored in a secure station locker but can take them home.

The Sig is one of the most common weapons among criminals and has been used in several murders. However, officers do not believe the thief knew he was breaking into the home of a detective garda and said the theft was "opportunistic".

Officials are remaining tight-lipped about how the sensitive file was in the public domain and found in the cafe last Thursday.

Details of a major probe codenamed Operation Tarmac were also contained in the document. It was left in a busy central Dublin coffee shop near a Luas stop before being returned to Harcourt Square Garda Station by a member of the public.

- Cormac Looney

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.

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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

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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

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

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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.