Gun Licence question

sebastianlieken

3 or 4 years ago I moved to northern ireland and didn't want to bring my .177 air rifle with me. I didn't fancy going through a sales process because I was only being offered about 1/10th of what I paid for it. My preference was to give it to a good mate of mine who is into his rifles and shotguns; i knew he'd look after it an appreciate it.

I wasn't clear on the law (and still am not) when transfering ownership of the gun to him, but he was pretty confident so I did it his way which was grand.

could somebody tell me if this is okay to have done or if I potentially have a criminal record now...

I physically gave him the gun, Wrote a letter along the lines of "I <my name> hereby transfer ownership of my Air arms .177 calibre air rifle bearing the serial number xxxxx to <his name> on <date>, witnessed by <his dad>". And we each have a copy of the letter.

At the time he owned a .22 rifle and a shotgun and proceeded to add this gun onto his gun licence.

Seems fine to me in that he got it licenced and therefore the serial number is still on file and the gun has a physical address.

Is this okay or should we have done this through a dealer?

I havn't paid my licence since (obviously) and have never heard anything about it.

the reason i'm asking is because I need to apply for a garda clearance cert.

Witcher

Well technically you shouldn't have handed over the gun to him until he got the licence but that's immaterial now.

FCA2 to cancel you own licence would have roubded it off but it doesn't seem to have been an issue so you should be ok.

sebastianlieken

Blay wrote: »

Well technically you shouldn't have handed over the gun to him until he got the licence but that's immaterial now.

FCA2 to cancel you own licence would have roubded it off but it doesn't seem to have been an issue so you should be ok.

Thanks for reply, what's "FCA2"?

oh, it's one of these: http://www.garda.ie/Documents/User/FCA2%20(english).pdf

.... I never did one of these.... ehhh... oops

Sparks

As long as he filed an FCA1 to get a licence for it, that's the core thing. Your local super would have appreciated a note about what was going on, I'd bet, but oddly enough this isn't an area explicitly covered by the Act so there has to be some operational flexibility so long as nobody's taking the mickey (and if that FCA1 is done and the licence granted, that's that concern covered).
And no, you don't need a dealer for all of this. They're handy if you don't know the person you're selling to as they can act as an escrow agent and a temporary buffer to hold the firearm while payments and licences and paperwork is sorted, but if your security isn't an issue (as it wouldn't be when selling to a friend), then there's no legal requirement to use one.

Cass

As a side note, when you gave him the rifle and he applied for the license did you supply him with the certificate number of your license, and did he fill out the details of where the gun was gotten from?

When buying from a private source (forget the actual money or lack of it, end of it) the person must on the FCA1 declare where the rifle/gun came from. This is either an RFD (supply the RFD's dealer number) or a private source in which case your mate needs to supply your certificate number. Otherwise it'll appear as thought he gun came nowhere.

Then, as the lads said, cancel your license though the FCA2. Even if it is no longer valid (your license) it's good to have an FCA2 on record to show you have declared the gun no longer in your possession. Also you'll need to state on the FCA2 where the gun has gone so you'll need your friends certificate number to show someone with a current license has the firearm.

sebastianlieken

Thread Revival...

Could anybody give me an email adress for the Garda Gun licence person in Leinster so that I can verify that my name does not have an unlicenced firearm next to it.

thanks

Mezamo

Call the Firearms policy unit they should be able to tell you what you need to know (01) 6661911. Give them the licence number

Cass

There is no such person/department. It's just your local station. Ring the station where you go to apply for a gun and speak to the Garda referred to as the Firearms Officer. Ask them to check it on PULSE.

Make sure you have all your licenses in front of you, and any old ones so you can quickly nad easily identify any that may be still down to you.

sebastianlieken

Cass wrote: »

There is no such person/department. It's just your local station. Ring the station where you go to apply for a gun and speak to the Garda referred to as the Firearms Officer. Ask them to check it on PULSE.

Make sure you have all your licenses in front of you, and any old ones so you can quickly nad easily identify any that may be still down to you.

i'm gonna have to do some serious digging to find my old gun licences...

where would they be....hmmmm

Cass

They are not vital, but make the process easier as you can list of serial/certificate numbers etc.

To cut it to the barest, whatever you don't have in your safe or have a license for - should not be down to you.

Cass

Mezamo wrote:

Cass there is such a unit as I have had to deal with them in the past. I suggest you check your facts

http://www.garda.ie/Documents/User/c...ing%5B1%5D.pdf

bottom of page 2

The OP asked for:

sebastianlieken wrote:

........ the Garda Gun licence person in Leinster ............

The person that issues gun licenses is the Superintendent of each station. There is no single person/Super/FO for Leinster.

The FPU, as you mentioned above, is a 2 man unit designed to aid both shooters and FOs/Supers in the easy understanding and enactment of the various firearms laws and any issues arising from it. They are not for matters that your FO can easily check for you. They are more a trouble shooting unit.


So:

Mezamo wrote:

I suggest you check your facts

Done & done.