Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Ruger scout
Options
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
That's only half the problem gunhappy. That's the "is it a long or a short firearm", which becomes a problem if the rifle itself would be restricted because of something else (eg. calibre or action).gunhappy_ie wrote: »Short answer yes you can have is so long as the barrel is above those specs.
The real issue is the barrel length - it's not legal in Ireland to shorten a barrel below 50cm on a rifle (60cm on a shotgun) unless you're an RFD who's fixing that barrel (and even then, you're required to immediately build it back up above the 50cm limit). For the Scout, which comes from the factory at 40-odd cm, that's not an issue because you're not shortening it; but you do run into the second half of the section dealing with barrel length which says that it's not legal to possess a rifle with a barrel under 50cm "without good reason or lawful authority".
Here's the problem. Say you apply for a licence for a restricted rifle from your local Garda Superintendent, and he issues it, and you go out into the fields with it to hunt. You'd be in possession of an unlicenced firearm because that licence came from a Super who's not legally authorised to issue a restricted firearms licence (it has to be a Chief Super). But the onus was on you to ensure you applied to the right person for the right kind of licence, so you get in trouble, not the Garda.
In other words, that piece of paper put into your hand by a Garda saying you're licenced to possess that firearm, cannot overrule the Firearms Act.
And so the problem is that nobody knows whether or not your firearms cert constitutes "lawful authority". Just because you have one that says you can have your sub-50cm-barrel rifle does not mean that that rifle is now licenced. And since the question is what a specific phrase in an Act means, this is always going to be an undefined area no matter what anyone says, until the issue gets settled in a courtroom somewhere, or the Oireachtas passes a new Act that defines the term.
So yeah, can of worms
0 -
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
Might be, but where in the act does it say how you measure the barrel length? They might well not take the length of the mod as part of the length of the barrel...
I think this is our saving grace here. Because no one has specified this, if it did go to a court case you could argue that you measured the barrel from X point to Y quite well. Of course we can't guess at the outcome of such a case, but I think it would be a valid argument. The fact that the rifle was processed through an RFD and the licensing system could only play in your favour.
All theoretical of course, but there are many ways to find 3 extra centimeters on a 47cm barrel
0 -
Well, yes...I think this is our saving grace here. Because no one has specified this, if it did go to a court case you could argue that you measured the barrel from X point to Y quite well.
...except that there's specific provision for replacement barrels now, and those get shipped as a seperate part from the manufacturer. If measured in that state, would it be over the 50cm limit and would that be the opposing argument?
It certainly would, but that doesn't mean it'd win the caseOf course we can't guess at the outcome of such a case, but I think it would be a valid argument.
I really wouldn't bet anything on the outcome of a case like that, and worse yet, if it wasn't taken deliberately, it might wind up being a particularly weak case but it would still set precedent.
Unpleasantly risky, IMHO.0 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
-
Advertisement