Irish rules about shooting and guns ownership

vivairlanda

Hi guys, I'm an italian guy who is in love with you amazing country!
In order to a future idea to live in your island I'd like to know something about guns law.
In Italy i have a licence that permit to own e transport the gun to the range, If i were in ireland may I own a gun or go to the range and rent one there? I know in UK all guns are banned... what's the irish situation?
Thanks and excuse me in advance for grammar mistakes

ianmb

You should check out the Guard site herehttp://www.garda.ie/Controller.aspx?Page=4144

Im no expert but basically it looks like anthing over over 1Joule muzzle energy
(airsoft) is classed as a firearm and requires a permit.

You have to apply to the Guarda for a permit, you need a good reason to own a gun, being a member of a club seems ok. You need a place to use the gun i.e.
on your own land, or at a range, the Guarda needs to be satisfied that the place is suitable. You have to be of sound mind Guarda needs to be sure you and not going to go mad with the gun. If you have more than one gun there are rules about how it must be stored. There are limits on how much ammunition you can hold. You need a separate license for each gun that you own. Short firearms (I guess this means pistols) seem to be discouraged, as do high power (I guess military spec) rifles and automatic weapons.

In short if you want a shotgun or a .22 for hunting and are a member of club, or have suitable land for hunting, or pest control, you cab probably get a permit.

vivairlanda

thank you! the rules are almost similar to ours

vivairlanda

ops I'm sorry I realized now that I posted in the wrong section

Dusty87

vivairlanda wrote: »

thank you! the rules are almost similar to ours

what sort of shooting do you do? Hunting or on a range?

deerhunter1

vivairlanda wrote: »

Hi guys, I'm an italian guy who is in love with you amazing country!
In order to a future idea to live in your island I'd like to know something about guns law.
In Italy i have a licence that permit to own e transport the gun to the range, If i were in ireland may I own a gun or go to the range and rent one there? I know in UK all guns are banned... what's the irish situation?
Thanks and excuse me in advance for grammar mistakes

Not all guns are banned in UK

vivairlanda

Dusty87 wrote: »

what sort of shooting do you do? Hunting or on a range?

i shoot on a range with a glock 9mm either static and dynamic

Bananaman

You have a few hoops to jump through.

[1] No new licenses for CF Pistols may be issued for the moment.
If you held a (Irish) license for your firearm prior to November 2008 you may apply otherwise you may not,

[2] Not sure if you can get a visitor permit for it
I assume it is possible but you will need to get it for a reason - namely a competition.
Dynamic shooting is not allowed in Ireland at the moment and has not been practiced here since 2008 - hopefully that will change in time
There are loads of centrefire pistol competitions in non dynamic sports.
The questions is will an application for a visitor permit be entertained?

[3] Ammo
Assuming you can get a license by fitting through all of the hoops above, being Italian I assume your 9mm is 9x21 for which ammo can be hard to come by here - it is not that popular here - so may be expensive.

B'Man

vivairlanda

Bananaman wrote: »

You have a few hoops to jump through.

[1] No new licenses for CF Pistols may be issued for the moment.
If you held a (Irish) license for your firearm prior to November 2008 you may apply otherwise you may not,

[2] Not sure if you can get a visitor permit for it
I assume it is possible but you will need to get it for a reason - namely a competition.
Dynamic shooting is not allowed in Ireland at the moment and has not been practiced here since 2008 - hopefully that will change in time
There are loads of centrefire pistol competitions in non dynamic sports.
The questions is will an application for a visitor permit be entertained?

[3] Ammo
Assuming you can get a license by fitting through all of the hoops above, being Italian I assume your 9mm is 9x21 for which ammo can be hard to come by here - it is not that popular here - so may be expensive.

B'Man

thankyou man, I'll see what i may do, if it's too difficult, I'll keep my gun in my italian home (to use it twice a year) and if I'll stay in Ireland I'll adapt myself, even shooting air guns or renting firearms at the static range. I also think that as non-citizen there'll be more toubles in attempting to obtain firearms license. Patience!
You are right my gun is 9x21 because ours stupid law that permits to have .338 lapua magnum, 45 ACP, 40S&W and so on... but not the very dangerous 9x19!!!

Sparks

Bananaman wrote: »

[2] Not sure if you can get a visitor permit for it

No such thing in Irish law. A full licence is required, obtained from the Superintendent/Chief Superintendent for the Garda district you will be competing in.

Bananaman

vivairlanda wrote: »

thankyou man, I'll see what i may do, if it's too difficult, I'll keep my gun in my italian home (to use it twice a year) and if I'll stay in Ireland I'll adapt myself, even shooting air guns or renting firearms at the static range. I also think that as non-citizen there'll be more toubles in attempting to obtain firearms license. Patience!
You are right my gun is 9x21 because ours stupid law that permits to have .338 lapua magnum, 45 ACP, 40S&W and so on... but not the very dangerous 9x19!!!

Unless you hold a license for a CF Pistol - you may not fire one - as a civilian - in the ROI.

Sparks wrote: »

No such thing in Irish law. A full licence is required, obtained from the Superintendent/Chief Superintendent for the Garda district you will be competing in.

Apologies for the use of the term (visitor permit) - but they do have a non-resident permit application here - so it is different - if only by name - I also believe it is only for one year rather than three as a full license would be.

Even if the OP held a licenses (resident or non-resident) for his firearm prior to the epoch I am sure the same blanket policies that applied to pistol license applications for everyone else would apply to his application also - so it mostly would depend on where he applied as to whether or not it was even read.

As it is, it sounds like he did not hold a license prior to the hammer falling so he will have to put up with shooting rimfire or air pistol, for now, if he wishes to shoot target pistol. (Except when he goes home to Italy - or virtually any country between here and there - where he can shoot CF Pistol for target pistol practice/competition)

B'Man

Sparks

B'man, that's not a non-resident permit, that's just the application form for a firearms certificate (ie. what you and I have) for a non-resident. It carries by law (even if the form's not clear, which it isn't) the same requirements and restrictions as any other certificate does.

There was some kerfuffle about that form recently by the way (specifically to do with it requiring the original european firearms pass and not a copy)::

Question wrote:

There are significant differences between Member States' laws on the use of the European firearms pass. The Irish authorities require lawful users of firearms from the other Member States to send them the original of their European firearms pass (EFP) before arriving in that country. The Dutch authorities, for their part, require such persons to be in possession of their EFP at all times, which means, in practice, that Dutch citizens cannot use their EFP in the Netherlands when they are planning to travel to Ireland.

The Commission, in its reply of 18 January 2008 to a parliamentary question concerning the European firearms pass, stated that it would ensure that the use of the EFP was not compromised by pointlessly bureaucratic or repressive practices.

Article 3 of the Firearms Directive (Directive 91/477/EEC(1)) bans the Member States from adopting legislation restricting the rights conferred on EFP users (with the sole exception of travel to a Member State which prohibits the acquisition and possession of the firearm in question or which makes it subject to authorisation).

In view of the foregoing, could the Commission check whether the Irish rules in question are an infringement of freedom of movement within the Single Market, in particular in the light of the provisions of the Firearms Directive, Directive 91/477/EEC?

Answer (via Google Translate from French) wrote:

In addition to the answer to the question P-6756/09 the Honourable Member, the Commission contacted informally with Ireland and the Netherlands.

The first confirmed they were asking the very first shipment of the original European card Guns before allowing the introduction of weapons in connection therewith.

They stated that the requirement to obey security considerations which were attached the police.

If this precaution is, in fact, far from being adopted by all Member States, the fact remains that it is not prohibited by Directive 91/477/EEC (1).

The Dutch authorities, meanwhile, indicated they did not require chasing Dutch citizens in the Netherlands they are in possession not only of their hunting license, but European Card Guns fire.

It therefore appears that hunters hunting legally Netherlands Netherlands are illegally simply because they sent their card European Firearms to Ireland to continue their activities.

Nevertheless, the Commission intends to remind Member States that still use the European map of Firearms should not be hindered by provisions or practices unnecessarily bureaucratic and repressive.

It will, in particular, at the next meeting of the Contact Group established by Directive 2008/51/EC amending Directive 91/477/EEC (2).

Bananaman

Sparks wrote: »

It carries by law (even if the form's not clear, which it isn't) the same requirements and restrictions as any other certificate does.

Never said it didn't - but it is an option for a "non-resident" - as the OP would appear to be.

B'Man

PS: I was of the impression that a Non-resident Permit is only good for one year - hence the difference in cost.( Fee €40 )

Sparks

Sorry B'man, my point is that it's not an "option". It's the defined route that a non-resident *must* take, and it's the same tests and requirements and so on as for a resident's cert (otherwise, we'd rightfully protest that non-residents could gain licences at a lower standard than we must meet).

We did try to get a real visitors permit, but the AGS wouldn't hear of it.

pedroeibar1

do not take a phone call and then hit 'Submit'

Sparks

See above pedro. The non-resident application form leads to the same thing as the resident application form.

Believe me, this has been on the list of things to do for a very very long time, especially with the NTSA. Just ask FLOYDSTER - to come down here and shoot in a selection match, he has to have an ROI licence; we don't have a visitor's permit mechanism like the PSNI do when we go up to NI. It's rather inequitable.

pedroeibar1

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

do not take a phone call and then hit 'Submit'

Not wishing to be obtuse on this, but I don’t understand the semantics going on here.... AFAIK any ‘foreign’ shooter’ can import a gun on a temporary basis provided he/she is approved by the CS who then grants a non-resident permit. I agree that it is a firearms Certificate, but it is a non-resident one, usually of short duration. That covers all visiting shooters, and also is how a foreigner moving to Ireland can obtain a licence, as there is a residency requirement before a FCA1 can be applied for.
The EU Parliament question arose because Ireland required intending visitors to submit – at least six weeks before the planned visit - their original EFP with their Non-Res application, and that the Dutch authorities required that shooters have their EFP with them at all times, thereby penalizing Dutch shooters. Reading the response the Irish are within the bounds of the law (the language is really pitiable civil service BS) and supposedly the Irish/Dutch difference was to be an agenda item at the next ‘Groupe de Contact’ I’ve no idea if that meeting ever took place....

The EFP question was asked by Véronique Mathieu, a French Deputy who is big on civil liberties and possibly a shooter, as she is a board member of France’s National Association of Big Game Hunters as well as several other hunting bodies and chairs the group on Sustainable Hunting, Biodiversity, Rural & Forest Affairs at the European Parliament .
See here http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/geoSearch/view.do?language=FR&id=4412 You should have her in your address book!
Rs
P.

ianmb

I think the point is that "Vivairlanda" is thinking about coming to live in Ireland, in which case he will be a resident.

vivairlanda

yes I'm thinking in the event to go live in Ireland