Handgun licenses in Ireland

BogMonkey

I'd like to have my own handgun to bring to the shooting range but I'd rather the Gardai don't even know I exist and from what I've read you have to apply directly to the superintendent who are usually reluctant to grant licenses anyway. Would the gardai be unlikely to give a handgun license to a male college student in his early 20's? I don't have a criminal record and have only had 1 run in with the gards since I turned 18. If I'm likely to get the license I don't mind applying but I don't want to have my name logged by the gards as someone trying to obtain a firearm and not get the thing. Anyone here have a pistol license?

deerhunter1

BogMonkey wrote: »

I'd like to have my own handgun to bring to the shooting range but I'd rather the Gardai don't even know I exist and from what I've read you have to apply directly to the superintendent who are usually reluctant to grant licenses anyway. Would the gardai be unlikely to give a handgun license to a male college student in his early 20's? I don't have a criminal record and have only had 1 run in with the gards since I turned 18. If I'm likely to get the license I don't mind applying but I don't want to have my name logged by the gards as someone trying to obtain a firearm and not get the thing. Anyone here have a pistol license?

Strange

BogMonkey

deerhunter1 wrote: »

Strange

What?

smokie2008

Not a hope, those licences are like hens teeth

Grizzly 45

This has to be somones idea of a joke??????????


[

I'd like to have my own handgun to bring to the shooting range but I'd rather the Gardai don't even know I exist and from what I've read you have to apply directly to the superintendent who are usually reluctant to grant licenses anyway.

You are for real?Living in the really real world??:eek:
Posting somthing like THAT will deffo not get you a liscense for a feather duster,not to mind a firearm...

Would the gardai be unlikely to give a handgun license to a male college student in his early 20's? I don't have a criminal record and have only had 1 run in with the gards since I turned 18.

Ehmmm....yeah ,no problem,so long as you stay on your meds and keep weraing that colander or tinfoil hat,and dont listen to the 12 of the 14 voices telling you want a nice treat in Mc Donalds today..No problem!!!:rolleyes:

If I'm likely to get the license I don't mind applying but I don't want to have my name logged by the gards as someone trying to obtain a firearm and not get the thing. Anyone here have a pistol license?

Well,then I suggest a trip to the local "Scumbag Arms" bar.Strike up a conversation with a few gentlemen going by the names of "Joxer" "Deccko" "Gert" or some such moniker.They are easily recognised by a large amount of gold chains,hoodie tops and tracksuits and very expensive trainers.Put your problem to them,and they will ,no doubt sort you out for a Grand or two around the back of the pub at 2am with a "dead clean short!"

Unfortunatly they might just empty the contents of the clip of the gun into your head via the barrel!!!!!.Thats the only way you would get a gun without the Gardai knowing about it.

YOU NEED HELP!!!!:eek::eek:

deerhunter1

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

This has to be somones idea of a joke??????????


[

You are for real?Living in the really real world??:eek:
Posting somthing like THAT will deffo not get you a liscense for a feather duster,not to mind a firearm...




Ehmmm....yeah ,no problem,so long as you stay on your meds and keep weraing that colander or tinfoil hat,and dont listen to the 12 of the 14 voices telling you want a nice treat in Mc Donalds today..No problem!!!:rolleyes:




Well,then I suggest a trip to the local "Scumbag Arms" bar.Strike up a conversation with a few gentlemen going by the names of "Joxer" "Deccko" "Gert" or some such moniker.They are easily recognised by a large amount of gold chains,hoodie tops and tracksuits and very expensive trainers.Put your problem to them,and they will ,no doubt sort you out for a Grand or two around the back of the pub at 2am with a "dead clean short!"

Unfortunatly they might just empty the contents of the clip of the gun into your head via the barrel!!!!!.Thats the only way you would get a gun without the Gardai knowing about it.

YOU NEED HELP!!!!:eek::eek:

Heh Heh Heh I love it

Dusty87

Hmm, another odd post in the shooting section.

Tell you what op, the best thing would be to chat your FO, and tell her word for word what you wrote here. She should give you a hand fill out the form.

Rovi

There is no legal way to possess a firearm in this country that DOESN'T involve coming to the close scrutiny and attention of the Gardai.

That scrutiny and attention ramps up considerably for handguns.

The ONLY purpose for which a person may apply for a handgun licence is that of 'target shooting', and the only acceptable (to the Gardai) proof of that intended purpose is membership of a target shooting club.

Excepting some very specific exceptions, which if you don't already know about them, don't apply to you, the only cartridge handgun type which may be applied for is of .22LR calibre and conforms to certain mechanical and cosmetic specifications.

You'll find lots of information here:
Garda Firearms Licensing web page

In particular, read:
The Garda Commissioner's Guidelines as to the Practical Application & Operation of Firearms Act, 1925 - 2009 - as amended 22/10/09

POPULAR QUESTIONS IN RELATION TO FIREARMS APPLICATIONS

Firearms licensing - FCA1 - English

Grizzly 45

Indeed she will....!!! while she is making a phone call for the guys in the white coats with the big butterfly net!!

Dusty87

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Indeed she will....!!! while she is making a phone call for the guys in the white coats with the big butterfly net!!

SSSHH Grizz, he didnt know that. Now he's not going to call in:D:D

rowa

Rovi wrote: »

There is no legal way to possess a firearm in this country that DOESN'T involve coming to the close scrutiny and attention of the Gardai.

That scrutiny and attention ramps up considerably for handguns.

The ONLY purpose for which a person may apply for a handgun licence is that of 'target shooting', and the only acceptable (to the Gardai) proof of that intended purpose is membership of a target shooting club.

Excepting some very specific exceptions, which if you don't already know about them, don't apply to you, the only cartridge handgun type which may be applied for is of .22LR calibre and conforms to certain mechanical and cosmetic specifications.

You'll find lots of information here:
Garda Firearms Licensing web page

In particular, read:
The Garda Commissioner's Guidelines as to the Practical Application & Operation of Firearms Act, 1925 - 2009 - as amended 22/10/09

POPULAR QUESTIONS IN RELATION TO FIREARMS APPLICATIONS

Firearms licensing - FCA1 - English

unless you run a string of well known supermarkets and are real friendly with the chap who has his own island and yacht, that is.

Simo Hayha

Have people taken you up wrongly, when you say you are not known to the police, do you mean you have never been in trouble

sharky0922

rowa wrote: »

unless you run a string of well known supermarkets and are real friendly with the chap who has his own island and yacht, that is.

only that? no biggy..:D

kildare.17hmr

I bet the op is glad he came here for advise:D

BogMonkey

Haha my god some replies I got here. Honestly what part of my post is so strange? Yes I would like to join an indoor shooting range and get a gun. No I would not like to have to walk into a Gardai station to register for it. I don't know anything about the legality of guns in Ireland thats why I'm asking questions. If I wanted a gun to go on a rampage or whatever it is you nutjobs think I'm up to I'd simply get one illegally.

It wasn't me!

To keep everything simple, the answer is no. What you want is absolutely not possible.

roosman

is it me or is there a raft of dodgy posts appearing on this forum.

I think that given the current climate and the sensitivities surrounding all things firearms related in our fair land, these posts smack very much of baiting or trolling by anti's or whatever. Who knows what the agenda is, but it looks very like people sniffing about for 'illegal goings on' or nudge wink kinda stuff..... seriously, asking about getting a handgun under the radar...sheesh !
my 2c..

Tackleberrywho

If his posts indicate anything he is in 1st year in DCU which would make him around 18.

There is more in the print media than anyone needs at the mo regarding this post's title.

Mod's could This thread be Closed?
I could be wrong but; I believe anymore talk on this subject in this context is counter productive.

BogMonkey

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Posting somthing like THAT will deffo not get you a liscense for a feather duster,not to mind a firearm...

And you're asking me if I'm living in the real world. Do you honestly think this internet post could be connected to me and used against me in the acquisition of a license?

Tackleberrywho

BogMonkey wrote: »

And you're asking me if I'm living in the real world. Do you honestly think this internet post could be connected to me and used against me in the acquisition of a license?

Yes son, your IP address you are using.

Anyone can be traced on here, very quickly if needs be!

So making statements regarding illegal activities is a No No on this forum.

This Forum is for Shooters who all hold licences.
Or Folk who wish to hold a licence or have an interest in the subject.
However if one mentions or hint's at illegal activities this is the standard reaction and response.

We do not mean to be rude, it is a very touchy subject to all on here, as the print media would love to quote you as a rep of the community for making a statement on this Forum.

Do you see the Dilemma?

Rovi

BogMonkey wrote: »

And you're asking me if I'm living in the real world. Do you honestly think this internet post could be connected to me and used against me in the acquisition of a license?

[MOD]
If the Gardai provide a court order, Boards.ie will provide whatever information is required to further their investigations.
It can and has been done.
[/MOD]

That said, the chances of this particular thread leading to such an investigation and a court order are indeed slim, but the possibility still exists.

Again, there is no possible means in this country to become the legal possessor of a firearm without close interaction with the Gardai, up close and personal in a Garda Station.
You WILL become very familiar with the inside of a Garda Station, and will be personally known to and familiar with at least a few of the Members there. All going well, you'll end up on first-name terms with them.
There is no avoiding this, and that's the way the law-abiding shooting community in Ireland want it.

If you are truly interested in taking up the sport of target shooting, have a look through the Target Shooting forum and you'll find lots of threads on the various clubs and ranges around the country.

BogMonkey

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Yes son, your IP address you are using.

Anyone can be traced on here, very quickly if needs be!

So making statements regarding illegal activities is a No No on this forum.

This Forum is for Shooters who all hold licences.
Or Folk who wish to hold a licence or have an interest in the subject.
However if one mentions or hint's at illegal activities this is the standard reaction and response.

We do not mean to be rude, it is a very touchy subject to all on here, as the print media would love to quote you as a rep of the community for making a statement on this Forum.

Do you see the Dilemma?

No my friend. Heres how it works. Someone who wanted to find me would first need to get my IP from boards.ie so the gardai would be the only people with the authority to get my IP. Next they would need to contact my ISP and get them to find out who was using the IP at the time this was posted. Now all that would take some time but it isn't too complicated a matter. Matters would be severely complicated now if I happened to be accessing this forum through a proxy or VPN. Who knows how many proxies I'm going through. In short the process of tracing someone over the internet can be a very time consuming and complicated process and the gardai have far more important things to do than to trace someone who did not even imply to any illegal activities on an internet forum.

I can see now that you thought I was "hinting" at illegal activities but in reality I actually didn't have any illegal activities in mind I genuinely want to obtain a gun legally. I can see this thread is giving people the wrong idea so I'll shut up now. Sorry for causing confusion.

Tackleberrywho

BogMonkey wrote: »

No my friend. Heres how it works. Someone who wanted to find me would first need to get my IP from boards.ie so the gardai would be the only people with the authority to get my IP. Next they would need to contact my ISP and get them to find out who was using the IP at the time this was posted. Now all that would take some time but it isn't too complicated a matter. Matters would be severely complicated now if I happened to be accessing this forum through a proxy or VPN. Who knows how many proxies I'm going through. In short the process of tracing someone over the internet can be a very time consuming and complicated process and the gardai have far more important things to do than to trace someone who did not even imply to any illegal activities on an internet forum.

I can see now that you thought I was "hinting" at illegal activities but in reality I actually didn't have any illegal activities in mind I genuinely want to obtain a gun legally. I can see this thread is giving people the wrong idea so I'll shut up now. Sorry for causing confusion.

Follow Rovi's link.

New shooters are very welcome!

We do not mean to be rude.
We just wanted potential issue to be nipped in the bud.

Sparks

/facepalm

BogMonkey, as others have pointed out, it's not possible to get your own sports equipment in our sport without dealing with the Gardai in a rather indepth manner compared to, say, archery. That contact with the Gardai is indeed seen by a very large number of people outside of the sport as being a very undesirable thing to have to undertake, but it is not the automatic black mark on your permanent record that everyone's mother seems to believe it is.

As to those posting here who felt that the best recourse when encountering a question they felt was unusual, was to go off on one, that's the last time it'll be tolerated. People outside our sport have odd questions. That's just how it is. This is not, by any measure, the first time that this specific question has been asked of people in our sport. The simple fact is, the average person in Ireland does not know much about our sport - despite our best efforts - and also does not relish the thought of contact with the Gardai - because "contact with the Gardai" is usually only something that happens to them if they're caught doing something naughty and almost always carries a punishment and social embarressment with it.

If you see a post you think is off, report it. Do not appoint yourself some sort of forum police, please.

As to remaining anonymous on here, it is a social construct. We don't ask unless we have to, and you don't tell unless you want to. But if you do something illegal and someone prosecutes that to the point of getting a court order, then yes, boards.ie will cooperate fully with the law and you will get traced. Even this site's short history has seen many rude awakenings for a lot of folks who thought that proxies and VPNs and Tor and other such tools were utterly anonymous. But day-to-day, it just doesn't matter.

And as to print media taking a post on here out of context, well I've not found a way to stop a malicious print source from mangling your words into a message you never sanctioned, and that includes the "say nothing" approach (which is the easiest to mal-quote). So just answer honestly and accurately. Anything else is just trying to be too clever and bites us all in the end (and our sport's political history is a long tapestry of that sort of thing).

jwshooter

BogMonkey wrote: »

Haha my god some replies I got here. Honestly what part of my post is so strange? Yes I would like to join an indoor shooting range and get a gun. No I would not like to have to walk into a Gardai station to register for it. I don't know anything about the legality of guns in Ireland thats why I'm asking questions. If I wanted a gun to go on a rampage or whatever it is you nutjobs think I'm up to I'd simply get one illegally.

this is where the hole thing went wrong in the first place ...

i went in and sat down with my super when i was looking for my first pistol .if back then 04-05 every one had to do the same we would not be where we are now.

Bananaman

BogMonkey wrote: »

I genuinely want to obtain a gun legally. I can see this thread is giving people the wrong idea so I'll shut up now.

It is the statement of what you want that is the problem I believe.
You have compounded it by issuing posts where you did not engage the brain in advance.

If you wanted to take up the sport of target shooting that would be one thing but you seem to have the cart before the horse.

B'Man

patsat

BogMonkey wrote: »

No I would not like to have to walk into a Gardai station to register for it.

Why not??

Sparks

Speaking of not engaging the brain before posting, if you walk into a GAA shop and ask to buy a hurley, it's generally not assumed without cause that you're looking to walk out into the street and brain someone with it. So if someone wants to come into target shooting as a sport, and they post on here imperfectly, it would be nice if people didn't jump down their throats immediately. The ethos and idioms of a community are meant to be things you pass on, not tests you have to pass.

Sparks

patsat wrote: »

Why not??

Apart from shooting-related contact or friends/relatives in AGS, what contacts have you had with the Gardai pat? Were they pleasant? Or were they speeding tickets or something similar?

BogMonkey

patsat wrote: »

Why not??

Sorry to keep this thread going but the reason I don't want to walk into a Garda station to apply for a license is because I have never been in trouble with the Gardai so they have no idea I even exist. I would like to keep it that way. Although theres nothing illegal about applying for a gun license I would still rather not be known to the Gardai as someone who attempted to purchase a gun.

What Sparks said in his last post is also part of the reason I avoid the Gardai. I have never been arrested but as a teenager I've had lots of trouble from them for drinking and they're not always the most pleasant people you run into on the streets.

Sparks

BogMonkey wrote: »

Sorry to keep this thread going but the reason I don't want to walk into a Garda station to apply for a license is because I have never been in trouble with the Gardai so they have no idea I even exist. I would like to keep it that way. Although theres nothing illegal about applying for a gun license I would still rather not be known to the Gardai as someone who attempted to purchase a gun.

It really is not a black mark on your record to apply for a licence, despite the public perception. On top of which, if you're in a club and doing this as a sport, it's far more likely to be granted than you might think, so long as you have somewhere to store the firearm securely. And while applying for a firearm is not a black mark (and neither is being refused, by the way, for obvious reasons), it's hard to view being granted the licence as anything other than a good mark...