What steps might the Authorities take to reduce No. of Firearms in Eire

ivanthehunter

I feel it necessary to mention a few reasonable steps that might help to reduce the number of firearm in Irish society.

If the Garda where willing to allow a single firearm to have extra barrels that mearly had to be recorded on the licence
i.e something like a sako quad, Thompsion G2 contender, Rugar 10/22
one action with several barrels would cover all the needs of any rimfire shooter, and there are other options out there that provide several centerfire barrels on to one action and some even allow for one action to take centerfire rounds in one barrel and 12gauge in another separate barrel.



Or if the authorities had a policy to charge only one licence fee for combinations firearms etc
i.e 20gauge & 22wmr combo gun or 410gauge&22hm2 or 20gauge and hmr




How about allowing lower powered air rifles to exist as they do in Britain
How many people would have never bothered going for a rimfire or a centerfire if a similar British 12ft/lbs limit or Spanish 18ft/lb limit (ALL unlicenced) existed on air rifles. And TBH even if you did own a rimfire or centerfire you might sell it to revert back to a theoretically unlicenced air rifles as its very cost effective and red tape free.

It seem to me that no incentives are provided to encourage Irish Shooters to make these choices that inevitably lead to fewer individual complete firearms..


Any thoughts on this issue will add to the debate..
If Garda org's are so concerned that about the protection of the public then why don't they organize these steps or similar ones.

Sparks

One licence for a sako quad or similar would reduce the licence numbers by maybe a dozen or thereabouts. Let's be generous and say a hundred. So that'd be what, 0.04%?
Deregulating airguns would be welcome, but again, low numbers. Maybe .5%, maybe 1%.
The bulk of firearms in Ireland (legitimate ones) are single-barrel shotguns on farms.

ivanthehunter

Fair points but isn't it true to say that the current range of firearms held by the Irish public is a reflection of the licencing system and a new licencing system would not have an instantaneous effect but a long term approach is alway best and would change the buying styles of Irish shooters over a long period.

Well at least we're in total agreement (for once) on the deregulation of limited power air rifles. But again i will insist that if these were freely available to the Irish public then shooters would choose one of these as a realistic supplement to powder&bullet guns..

PS as you well know there are a lot of firearms that can benefit form interchangeable barrels

The best way to introduce any new polices is through a positive incentive based system...

Rovi

We quite often see threads here where someone comes along looking for advice on what sort of gun would suit their purpose, the consensus emerges that an airgun of some sort would be a fine choice, but the final conclusion is that they should just go and get a rimfire rifle anyway, as the application process, paperwork and licence fees are exactly the same.

A change as suggested would certainly have a long term effect on the number of rimfire rifles being applied for, but I'd doubt that many people who've already been through the process would be interested in reverting to an airgun. I don't doubt that some would, but most wouldn't; they'd probably just get an airgun to go with the rimfire.

I know that's what I'd do.

ivanthehunter

But an air rifle is so cheap to shoot, its lower energy's make it safer and AFAI have been told an air rifle is more accurate than most 22lr so in theory it make an excellent choice for the Plinking

Grizzly 45

i.e something like a sako quad, Thompsion G2 contender, Rugar 10/22
one action with several barrels would cover all the needs of any rimfire shooter, and there are other options out there that provide several centerfire barrels on to one action and some even allow for one action to take centerfire rounds in one barrel and 12gauge in another separate barrel.

You can do that pretty much now,so long as it is in the same liscensed calibre.IE you can own many and various barrels for a ruger 10/22,so long as you get your reciver number stamped on the barrels[again this may vary per district] Ditto for shotguns.It becomes more of a problem if you want to add a different calibre to the same liscense.

Or if the authorities had a policy to charge only one licence fee for combinations firearms etc
i.e 20gauge & 22wmr combo gun or 410gauge&22hm2 or 20gauge and hmr

They do,or should have [again your mileage may vary from district to district].That they charge your liscense for the rifle bit of your combo gun.

How about allowing lower powered air rifles to exist as they do in Britain

That will be the day!!!The UK is doing everything in it's power to liscense air guns out of existance...Western world wise the trend is for Govts to reduce the number of firearms available to the general public.
In the East firearms ownership is more common.
Trouble is in my opinion there are too many people out there who ruin it for us all.
This is somthing more police and politicans look at and thats why many wonderful things IMO are illegal here.The General pouplation is just not trustworthy anymore to own anything dangerous..Yet most everyone has a deadlier weapon than any firearm,called a car.And we can see on a daily basis how irresponsible people are with them. Feck sake they are now looking at banning airsoft as well...Because of the misuse by a bunch of people of a TOY.Nanny State when it takes somthing away from you,it is then almost impossible to retrive it again.

Nice thought but I cant see it ever happening here.

It wasn't me!

ivanthehunter wrote: »

But an air rifle is so cheap to shoot, its lower energy's make it safer and AFAI have been told an air rifle is more accurate than most 22lr so in theory it make an excellent choice for the Plinking

Air rifles more accurate? From what I've read on hunting air rifles a gun that can do under an inch at fifty yards is considered accurate. As a rimfire shooter, that certainly doesn't impress me, with either the target or sporting rifles I'm familiar with, so certainly wouldn't take that word for gospel if I were you.

Sparks

I think he's confusing hunting air rifles with ISSF air rifles...

It wasn't me!

Possibly, a mistake to be avoided. Still, the groups they shoot are astonishing.

kowloon

What steps might the authorities take to reduce the number of firearms?

Increasing restriction backed up by sensationalism, ignorance and bullying legitimate firearms owners I would imagine.

Why change a winning strategy?

maglite

One man one licence

kermitpwee

maglite wrote: »

One man one licence

If by this you mean 1 gun per man then i would not be in favour of that suggestion.

bunny shooter

kermitpwee wrote: »

If by this you mean 1 gun per man then i would not be in favour of that suggestion.

The women might be a little pissed off with that statement too :P

Jacobo

kermitpwee wrote: »

If by this you mean 1 gun per man then i would not be in favour of that suggestion.

I assume that he means a system like in Spain, where you get a licence to own firearms, and then you can have several firearms on that one licence.

kermitpwee

bunny shooter wrote: »

The women might be a little pissed off with that statement too :P

When did women start shooting:D

Only joking ladies, i know which side my bread is buttered;)

meathstevie

How to reduce the number of firearms ? Is there a need to reduce the number of licenced firearms ? So far nobody has been able to convince me of a need for reducing the number of licenced firearms.

Jacobo

Some people in positions of power seem to see a need to reduce the number of firearms, and as long as it is them who write the laws and not us, they'll have it their way.

However, if we can suggest ways for them to achieve their stated objective while minimizing the damage, we should absolutely go for it. If it worked, the end result might not be the one we'd prefer, but it would be definitely better than the alternative.

maglite

if you look at how the number would be reported, the only measure worth anything.

The number of firearm licenses would drop by 20% odd. How many firearm do we all have. Most people I know have 2 or more.

Vegeta

Sparks wrote: »

I think he's confusing hunting air rifles with ISSF air rifles...

It wasn't me! wrote: »

Possibly, a mistake to be avoided. Still, the groups they shoot are astonishing.

I doubt that was a mistake, I have had 2 pcp air rifles, a Logun MK II pro (12ft/lbs) and a BSA hornet single shot (30ft/lbs)

They were/are both "shoot the head off daisies" accurate and have far superior triggers to my CZ 452.

Never really shot at much past 40 yards but they are definitely more accurate over that range.

ivanthehunter

Would the

minister

read this!!!!!

Poisoning has been all but banned and AFAIK a rifle with a bullet of min weight 55grs and a min energy of 1700ft/lbs is the only way to legally hobby hunt a deer. Fox and Rabbit can be snared but this action is becoming so heavily legislated (not to mention demonised by do-gooders) that in reality it has become unpractical to adhere to such stupid rules. The setting of traps for Grey Squirrels in trees has also been banned, the exceptions to this are the live catch traps.
Live catch traps do offer an alternative but their large bulk and weight make them an unpractical alternative to snares. In reality it is easier to bear the weight of a comfortably slung rifle!! So it seems that Irish legislation in conjunction with badgering for eurocrats has lead to the current climate that make the firearm the only choice.. thats still PC


If the government were ever to establish a panel who's objective was to
examine the number of firearms in Ireland and to formulate steps to reduce the numbers of active firearms in Ireland they would surely see the value that alternative hunting methods provide.(period)


As we all know there are areas where the discharge of high velocity firearms would be a no no! yet some of these areas are bounding with game. Game that is causing damage to crops, gardens and cars yet under are current legal regime this game is untouchable!!:eek:

There seems to be an obvious solution here that services both problems!! but when do Irish politicians take notice of obvious solutions!!!

Bow hunting!!! Open your mind to the possibility of hunting with methods that are currently active in 11 European countries and is extremely popular in north America.

We as hunters of Ireland should be taking steps to expand the sports range of possibilities, as we all know there are sufficient groups wishing to control our sports and as we all know most of these people are jumping on the Bambie wagon with out any real life hunting or countryside experiences!!!

What do you lot think?

Sparks

I think you were warned about this enough times Ivan. Take three months off, as previously discussed.

Solidchrome

ivanthehunter wrote: »

Bow hunting!!! Open your mind to the possibility of hunting with methods that are currently active in 11 European countries and is extremely popular in north America.

We as hunters of Ireland should be taking steps to expand the sports range of possibilities, as we all know there are sufficient groups wishing to control our sports and as we all know most of these people are jumping on the Bambie wagon with out any real life hunting or countryside experiences!!!

What do you lot think?

Expand our sports range to Bow hunting??

The government are trying to slowly have us (responsible gun owners) give up our right to gun ownership as it is- I dont see why we should downgrade our past time by shooting with bows and arrows. In any case( and heaven forbid) if people swapped their gun for bows, the government would eventually ban archery as well!