Firearms policy in the Republic of Ireland
The Firearms Act, 1925 also lists a number of groups which are prohibited from legally owning a firearm, these include those suffering from mental health issues, those under the age of fifteen years and those who are under the supervision of the police[1] Gun crime is rising steadily in Ireland as a result of the illicit drugs trade; this has resulted in extensive tightening of licensing legislation during the last decade over the protests of the shooting sports organisations.With the exception of the recent rise in gun crime, politics in Ireland has not concerned itself very much with firearms since the Good Friday Agreement.This created the unusual situation where the laws applying to everything from a Nerf dart gun to a 20mm anti-tank rifle were identical.Prior to the computerisation of records in 2003,[8] it would have required searching and comparing through over 220,000 paper records by hand to determine this figure; requests for this number made through Written Questions in the Dáil since 2003 have received the reply that it would take a disproportionate amount of manpower to discover the number[9]).Over 168 judicial review cases were taken to the High Court between 2010 and 2013 in a protracted series of legal proceedings all relating to disputed licensing decisions.The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1970–1998) were becoming a security concern for the Irish government at the time, and in 1972 a Temporary Custody Order (S.I.187/1972 – Firearms (Temporary Custody) Order, 1972)[24] was issued for all privately held pistols and all rifles over .22 calibre to be surrendered to local Garda Síochána (police) stations by 5 August 1972, for a period of one month.While welcomed by the target shooting community, in 2008 opposition deputies Jim Deasy and Olivia Mitchell campaigned to ban these pistols on the grounds that they could be used in crime.Despite multiple parliamentary questions from as early as 2005,[26][27][28][29][30] where it was stated that there was no proof that this was happening, Minister Ahern announced a ban[dubious – discuss] on all handguns in November 2008.With the election of a new Minister, the FCP is in the process of being wound down, despite campaigning to extend its terms of reference to make it a permanent advisory panel.