"I'm going to get a gun" - Keane (on self-protection). Will he or won't he?

Dr Strange

Solicitor Gerald Keane has openly stated he's going to get a shotgun for protecting his house/family after a break-in at his Wicklow home at which his fiancee was threatened and tied up.

I wonder, after this open statement in the papers, will he get a license? If he doesn't it means they are upholding the current legislation that says you cannot licnese a firearm for personal protection. If he does get a license I wonder will it open the door to licensing for protection purposes?
Also, if he applies for a shotgun license for the purpose of vermin control etc, would he still get one after this public statement?

He wasn;t there so havbin a shotgun for protecting his home would have been useless. In fact, it may have been even worse for the fiancee, not only would the criminals have had made away with all the jewellery and money but probably with the firearm and ammunition as well.

What do you think about it?

Here's today's Sunday Independent article:

'I'm going to get a gun' says Kean

By Niamh Horan
Sunday June 19 2011


Celebrity solicitor Gerald Kean has proclaimed he is purchasing a gun, following the violent robbery of his blonde fiancee Lisa Murphy.

The high-profile lawyer, who advocates zero tolerance of criminals, says it is one of the measures he is taking to protect his Co Wicklow home following the theft of hundreds of thousands of euro worth of jewels.

Speaking on RTE's chat show with Miriam O'Callaghan last night he said: "Yes, I am getting a shotgun.

"I've been outspoken about zero tolerance in the past because of my time spent in Florida where zero tolerance is applied. It is not acceptable to commit a crime -- but criminals can get the help they deserve while serving long sentences."

The Wicklow-based solicitor, who is due to marry his stunning fiancee later this year, also told of how Lisa is continuing to suffer from long-term physical injuries since the armed raid.

And he described the full extent of the terror she suffered on the night. "They held a knife to her throat. Then another robber took out a second knife and said: 'Ok, so we'll do this the hard way'."

Gerald, who was out on the night of the robbery, had expected Lisa to join him.

"When she didn't turn up I thought there'd been a car accident," he said. "I was relieved when I saw the car in the drive -- but when I went inside I heard this almighty scream. I ran upstairs and I found her slumped over in the chair, screaming."

- Niamh Horan

Link: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/im-going-to-get-a-gun-says-kean-2679136.html

IRLConor

If they give a cert to just about anyone with no grasp of safe firearm handling it'll backfire on legitimate firearms users in the long term.

Most people I know who own guns were taught about the safety aspects first. Whether they learned from a family member or in a more formal setting doesn't matter as much as the fact that they started out supervised by someone who knew what they were doing.

A gun, a stressful situtation and little or no firearms experience (much less training for the specific situation) is an accident waiting to happen. Someone will get hurt and then the hunters, farmers and target shooters will get the blame.

Grizzly 45

A statement by a still upset man who has still not got over the fact that HIS house and HIS girlfriend was robbed...Welll DUH!!!...:(.

The stupid woman is splashed all over every social rag,newspaper,chat show and media outlet and is known to hang out and party with Irelands jet set,and to have a bunch of jewels worth X millions on her at any given time..With no personal security and the alarm shut off while the house is being renovated which every man and his dog knew about..Why not just put a big sign up over yourselves saying ROB ME!!!

Two words for you..PASTE JEWELLERY..Keep the real stuff in the bank and get some exellent copies made,if you want to flash your ice in public,and let it be known it is fake. Then one day you can wear the real stuff to a function and impress them all that it is actually the real stuff.FFS Hollywoods divas have been doing this for generations!! nor is it considerd tacky or a faux paus..Liz Taylor didnt walk around every day wearing the diamond Richard Burton gave her.

There is and was nothing "brave" about this woman..Terminally stupid would be more appropriate.:mad:

Anyways,now that phase one of most Irish tragedies has occured .The "Ah Shure nothin will happen"phase.We move onto the predictable phase two...Bolting the stable door after the horse is long gone! Beef up the security,hire close protection personel,get a gun..For what??They have robbed you already...Nothing really worth coming back for now.

Technically said this never getting a gun for self defence purposes is by and large true.However in the land of" Nod and Wink"..There have been notable exceptions to the rule of this..
Austin Currie TD was one.
A couple of the Criminal Asset Bureau top rank folks who are civillians no matter what, were offered firearms for self defence when the pressure was coming down on John Gilligan,and it was discoverd that there was a plot to assainate them.
[Ref Paul Williams programme on the CAB aired this year on TV3.A ex cheif superintendent[?] stated this on the programme]
Am sure they are plenty more these are just two known ones in the public domain.
Those are high profile cases and the one thing that they have in common is it is the upper echelons of Irish society:rolleyes::rolleyes:.

Now,if he does get it..It will show great hyprocrisyon the PTBand stupidity on Keane's part ,as the man has publicy stated he wants it for self defence so it makes a complete mockery of the firearms law.
Not to mind now making himself a target for a more determined attack,where the lads will be proably packing some firepower to counter his.

Also I do hope he goes off to Florida and learns how to use a shotgun in a tactical enviroment.[As he wont learn it in Europe legally]
As we are now light years away from "sporting purposes",home defence with a shotgun is a totally differnt situation,no DBBLs here..:p

And we will proably see phase three of the tragedy.The "I know my own house and I'll shoot the fkuers if they come in bit".Well,he is a lawyer,so I'm sure he will be able to argue a good defence if he accidently shoots the maid or herselfs daughter sneaking in at 3am.God forbid!!:(

crackcrack30

IF a zero tolerance was in place and working, And IF serious punishment and fully served sentences were being handed down, and IF every second headline was not about crimes against the person.... I would say no guns for personal protection in your home -as there would/should be no need for them.................but thats not the case.

On a side note , around here id be terrified incase the local hoods would find out that I have firearms not to mind advertising it.

maglite

As someone with a firearm cert, one of many in this thread. I would hope the Gardaí do not issue him with a shotgun,

There are about 3 people in the country already issued with firearm certs for self defense so this case would set no president. It would not be something I support.

Edit- I thought I was in AH. Must have got lost somewhere

Sparks

Rule 7 folks. Thread closed here. The politics forum is where this belongs, feel free to discuss it there, but this is a sports forum, not a "should we allow guns for self-defence" forum...