Joining a pistol club & starting shooting a pistol?

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: CZ P-09 (.22 pistol).

Dixsey100-

I have recently joined a pistol/ rifle target shooting club and am interested in buying a pistol ( CZ-P09 Kadet .22 LR ) I emailed the shooting club about buying this pistol and the owner replied saying no problem buying the pistol and they would help me with the application process. I,m 54 years old have never been in any trouble with the guards and I have worked with my employer for 27 years ( and its a dangerous job working with some very dangerous gases ) I have just had monitored alarm installed too. My question is, is it really no problem getting a firearms license as the shooting club said or is it too much hassle from the guards and expense with house alarm, pistol safe and installation and of course the cost of the pistol itself, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

John

otmmyboy2

Splitting this off from the other thread since it is only tangentally related to that thread.
We are also overdue another pistol/starting target shooting thread, the last one I saw was 2021 and things have changed somewhat since then!

So for the security side of things you would, by the minimum standards, only need a safe securely fastened to a solid structure, noted in the SI here as level 2(one non restricted firearm):
https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2009/si/307/made/en/print
The monitored alarm goes above and beyond, so you are good for the next level up if you to go really hard into the hobby/sport.

Provided you join a target shooting club/shooting range, that is your justification for applying for a pistol licence, for target shooting since that is the only accepted reason currently for licencing one. There should be no issue if as you say your record is clean, don't pose a danger to the public, have the appropriate security accommodations, and can prove competency.
The latter part of that is relatively simple, and clubs, ranges, firearms dealers and shooting organisations all run competency courses which satisfy the competency requirement. Also other competencies can be taken as sufficient, like prior armed service in military/police/security capacities.

Overall the bar to enter shooting is not insurmountable, far from it, and more are put off by the prospect of starting the process vs the actual process.

If you've any further questions post them up here, there are a lot of folks here happy to help a new shooter find their feet.

And finally, welcome to the shooting forum! 😁

Dixsey100-

thanks otmmboy2 for your help and your right, it does seem almost impossible in this country to get a firearms license for people who are not in the sport, the perseption by most people is its almost impossible to get a firearms licence and that’s why people don’t even try. I’ve been interested in taking this up as a hobby after doing some clay pigeon shooting and 22 rifle shooting a few years ago but simply thought it would be too much hassle because of the strict laws in Ireland. And thanks for welcoming me to this forum, I appreciate it

Dixsey100-

I have another 2 questions, if anyone wouldn’t mind helping me with, do the 2 referees on the FCA1 form have to be doctors or professionals of some sort or can it be anyone you know a long time that doesn’t have any history with the guards?? Also on that form it asks how many rounds of ammunition you want to be licensed for, do you need to keep the ammunition at home as well as the pistol or can you not just buy the ammunition when you get to the range as that’s the only place you will be firing the pistol?? Thanks in advance

Dixsey100-

clivej

I can't see what the problem is here. Im a member of Harbour House Sports Club in Kildare and the firearms dealer there sells 22 lr handguns. Over the years they have held introductory days for ladies with morning safety courses and afternoon rifle and pistol training. A lot of these ladies went on to license their first firearm which was a pistol.

I myself have owned many handguns over the years, just sold my last one to finance a new rifle.

My advice is get along to a shooting club where handguns are shot, look at what the members are doing, have a chat to find out what is what. If you like what you see and want to take up the sport, hobby, then find a, handgun you like, put a deposit down, join a pistol shooting club, and apply for your license. When your licence comes pay the rest off and get some training on how to use and shoot it. EAST AS That.

Dixsey100-

Thanks clivej

I,m completely new to this and did,nt realise it was as straight forward as that, do the 2 referees need to be professional people like Doctors and the like or just 2 people who know you and can testify to your good character? Also would applying to possess ammunition make it harder to actually get the licence? Ive been reading up on gun laws in Ireland online and they make it sound really difficult to get a firearms licence even though they are only .22LR pistols. I have joined a pistol shooting range in Kerry despite the fact I live in Dublin so its a whole day out just getting there and back, but it was the only one I could find online that done pistol shooting and only cost 300 euros for the year including insurance. I,m going down on Saturday so I will bring the FCA1 form with me and ask them to help with filling it out. If I can I will put a deposit on a pistol and send the completed FCA1 form to my local Garda station and fingers crossed I get approved for the licence. I might go down to Harbour house sports club on Sunday to see what the facilities are like as driving to Kerry is putting me off the idea of taking this up as a hobby. Can you tell me roughly how long the application process with the Guards is?? Thanks in advance

Dixsey100-

otmmyboy2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122003789#Comment_122003789

Sure thing, so the 2 referees on the FCA1 can be anyone who knows you and can attest to your character.
The only legal proviso is the references cannot be serving Gardai. Some districts will want you to put down a family member and a non familially related person, but some do not mind. You can put down either and the FO(Firearms Officer) will contact you when looking through your form if they need to substitute a referee.

On the ammunition front, 500-1000 rounds would be usual most people to apply for, for target shooting. The garda commissioner's guidelines for licencing point towards 1000 being the amount, on average, for Target Shooting, though some districts are reluctant to licence that amount of ammunition on a first licence.

You can store the ammunition at home(in a locked container separate from any firearm it is capable of being used in), or you can choose to purchase it at the range and shoot it all there.
Personally I would get a lockbox just in case, since the range you go to may not have their gunshop/ammo shop open every time the range itself is open. And also if you have a few rounds left over at last shots if you do not want to bring them home then you would have to dump them or pass them off to another shooter which is not the best plan IMO.
The ammunition must also be transported in a locked container(separate from the firearm it can be used in), so that lockbox can pull double duty as home storage and transport case.
Finally, you may find that your pistol "likes"(functions particularly well or accurately) with a certain type of ammunition and so you may want to stock up on that ammunition while it is available, which would involve transporting and storing it too.
I'll end the paragraph like this, I do not know anyone with a licence who doesn't store ammo at home 😉

otmmyboy2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122004243#Comment_122004243

Damn!
Yeah there are a lot of ranges between Kerry and Dublin that accommodate pistols.
Here is a list of ranges by county:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/92987016#Comment_92987016

And the vast majority will accommodate pistols, since they are very low powered compared to rifles.

On applying to posess ammunition making the process harder, no. It is a generally accepted part of the licence that you need to posess ammunition so it poses no extra hurdles.

I know Clive is a member at HH, and it is a very nice facility. I am a member of Midlands currently and it is also a nice facility, slightly further than HH but having been a member of both HH and Midlands I can say you won't go wrong with either.

On application times for the licence Dublin tends to be rather good, with some processing taking <2 weeks and others going more towards the 2 month mark. The legal limit is 3 months so you would generally have an answer before then, but some districts take the mickey when it comes to that limit.

Dixsey100-

Cant thank you enough otmmboy2, because this is exactly the opposite of what I would have thought,

I thought a Garda referee would be bullet proof ( pardon the pun ) and that Dublin would be the hardest place to get a firearms licence considering most of the gangsters shooting each other are from Dublin ( though obviously they generally dont use .22 guns and dont have them legally )

When your completely new to this you assume the guards are suspicious about your motives for wanting a gun but I, like you have no bad intentions for wanting a gun, I have just enjoyed very much the experience of target shooting as a hobby.

I was very reluctant about applying for a firearms licence and was just going to use the pistols that were supplied by the range, but I would definitely prefer to own my own pistol and familiarise myself with it and the stripping and maintaining of the gun.

I have already had monitored alarms installed in my house and had them out today to fix a few things I was,nt happy about and he mentioned without any prompt from me that they can alarm gun safes so I told him I intended to buy a pistol and gun safe and he told me that they could put a monitored alarm on the actual safe at an extra cost of course, but very reassuring to know that if anyone did manage to break into the house, that if they did get near the gun safe there's a monitored alarm on that too.

I am booked to go to the range I joined in Kerry on Saturday but Im going to ring HH tomorrow and see if i can have a look at their range and facilities tomorrow as the distance I have to travel to go to Irish shooting sports in Kerry is a bit ridiculous.

Thanks again for your help and I think now I will get the ball rolling to try get a firearms licence for a .22LR pistol licence

otmmyboy2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122007020#Comment_122007020

No worries at all, happy to help and if anything else comes up ask away. 😁

clivej

Best to visit Harbour House Sports Club on Saturdays as that's is when Gunshop.ie is on site. They have a good selection of all firearms including many handguns. I'll be there there as well tomorrow on range 2 with my new Anschutz 2013 rifle. Introduce yourself.

Also on range 1 from 11.30am till about 1pm there is handgun training that you won't get at any other range, so please take a look. Also stay and look around for a while. Tea n coffee, buns, and bullish!te are available for small money in our big club house. Never know you may not make it to Kerry.

Dixsey100-

Thanks clivej, yes I think ill give Kerry a miss tomorrow and drop into Harbour House tomorrow instead as that drive to Kerry is a bit ridiculous, is it ok to just arrive or do I need to make an appointment? I,ve received a message on here from one of the managers from HH and he was very friendly and helpful and gave me his phone number so I think ill ring him in the morning and see what he says about me calling in. Thanks again for your help, its very much appreciated

clivej

Only seeing this now, hopefully you got a tour of our great range.