Waste of time, did it recently myself along with another member, thats just politicians wanting to say after the fact, they listened.

Thats all they will do, wont change a thing.

Doubt they will be the last, but the outcome will be the same. Without a direct reversal by Simon Harris or James Browne, who both appear to be scratching one anothers back on FB the last couple of days, nothing will happen.

Funny that when James Browne FF , has a brother who is being supported by Simon Harris FG. In charitable events. (Unless these guys are shamed into changing their biased views nothing will happen)

Thats round 3

Its big smiles all the way to the dole office after the next General election, thats what those politicians FB pages should say, Linked in profile, "Open to offers".

Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages – EDITVotes – Dáil Éireann (33rd Dáil) – 2023-03-29 – Houses of the Oireachtas

The voting on those amendments was posted here a few days ago.

Interesting from the point of view of seeing the whip system in operation. Nobody breaks Party ranks.

Just goes to show that you are not voting for a local politician, no matter what party. You are voting for what the party leader says you are voting for. These fools who think of voting for party pump politics are, as I said fools

reckon FFG are under pressure from the Gardai to get semi-autos gone.

Is there a specific reason for this and if so what is it.Whats the problem with CF semi autos bar the obvious fear imported from abroad.

Realistically a shotgun is as dangerous at 15 yards as a CF so there must be other reasons notwithstanding the obvious.

He voted with the Government.

I received a reply on behalf of James Browne to an email regarding semi auto CFs;

"Dear Minister,

I am writing in response to the recommendations published by the Firearms Expert Committee on the 31st of March 2023.

Firstly, I would like to say there are many welcome aspects from the committee's report. There are some great recommendations with regards to the licensing of firearms which should cut down on paperwork for both firearms owners and An Garda Siochana and generally streamline the whole firearm application process.

I also welcome the recommendation to increase the legal magazine capacity of .22 target pistols to ten rounds rather than five. This will prevent potentially dangerous amateur modifications being made to pistols to make them legal in Ireland, as currently is the case now.

I would like to draw your attention to the lack of consensus from the FEC on the licensing of semi-automatic centerfire rifles, and centerfire pistols. There is currently already a ban on new licenses for these pistols since 2008, and a proposed ban on these rifles is making its way through the Dail as we speak, which will revoke licenses for these rifles issued after 2015 and impose a ban on new licenses being issued.

I would like to make it known that I, and many others in the shooting community, do not support the continuation of the ban of these types of firearms. The FEC report highlights that the public safety concerns cited by An Garda Siochana as the reason for supporting a ban on these firearms have no evidence to support them.

I would also like to point out that An Garda Siochana and the courts already get to decide on the licensing of these firearms, and to their credit, they do a fantastic job of ensuring that the types of people who use these firearms are of good character, and ensuring their security arrangements are in place to prevent these from potentially falling into criminal hands.

I was 11 years old at the time of the centerfire pistol ban, and so I was too young to ever get the chance of participating in that sport. I think it is very unfair that license holders before 2008 get to continue to enjoy these types of shooting sports in Ireland, while nobody else can try them out. This will also become the case with semi automatic centerfire rifles if this new legislation becomes law.

I implore your department to find a compromise between ensuring that the safety concerns of An Garda Siochana are addressed via appropriate security arrangements in the homes of owners of these types of firearms, while also still allowing new participants to try out these sports.

In summary, please allow new licenses to be issued for the wonderful sports of centerfire pistol shooting and semi automatic centerfire rifle shooting!

Kind regards"

I received the following reply;

"I am writing about your recent correspondence to the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, James Browne T.D. The Minister has asked me to reply to you on his behalf.

Thank you for your correspondence dated 01 April, 2023, to the Minister of State, James Browne TD, regarding Semi-Automatic Centre Fire Rifles. I am responding to you on the Minister’s behalf.

The proposed new section 3DA (2) of the Firearms Act 1925, is being proposed on public safety grounds, in line with a previous announcement by the then Minister for Justice on 18 September, 2015. It is important to note that the intention to introduce this measure has been a matter of public record since that date. The cap on new licences for semi-automatic centre fire rifles was among a number of measures identified during the substantial review of firearms licensing undertaken between 2014 and 2015; this included consultation with the public, stakeholders and the relevant Oireachtas Committee. The Minister shares the concerns of An Garda Síochána in relation to public safety and equally acknowledges the dedication and responsibility of the owners of legally held firearms in the State. This measure has been a long standing recommendation of An Garda Síochána which was taken into account by the then Minister when she made her announcement on 18 September, 2015.

The original decision to cap this particular type of firearm was made upon public safety grounds, due to their use in international shootings that have resulted in significant loss of life and, in the Minister’s view, the policy context has not changed. On that basis, Minister McEntee elected to include this provision in the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022, and the Dáil has recently confirmed its support for this approach.

As noted above that the cap on semi-automatic centre-fire rifles provided for in the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, 2022, is longstanding Government policy its enactment will be the culmination of a process which long pre-dates the establishment of the Firearms Expert Committee.

I trust the above clarifies the position.

Yours sincerely"

Basically boiling down to "The Gardaí want them gone since before the FEC so in spite of the no recommendations to ban them coming from the FEC, we're going to ban them anyway."

Please anyone feel free to use the above as a template to send to your politicians or the minister (I'm sure most of you can probably figure out how to word things a bit better). Keep the pressure up!!

your 4th paragraph makes very interesting reading. Where would those stats be available ?

Is such a “cap” actually a direct attack on our republic in so far that all men are equal.. but now it seems that some are more equal than others.

how can one set of folk be allowed to have and use SACR and another is prohibited..

Scandalous

Regards of the status of rights vs privilege.. all persons should be treated equally under the constitution of Ireland.

Allowing one persons to have extra rights or privileges as compared to another because of age or opportunity is oppressive in nature to the person who has to do without..

A bit of a coincidence that this story is circulated around the same time as the FEC report

Hmm, yer swaying my thinking, would like to see it tested.