Ireland bans handguns

[Bono]

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/ireland/ahern-signs-new-gun-control-act-into-law-419908.html

Ahern signs new gun control act into law
24/07/2009 - 11:29:00

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has signed new gun control legislation into law.

The act bans handguns in Ireland and also introduces a requirement for referees, background medical checks and standards for the safe keeping of guns in the home for all firearms licence applicants.

It also makes it an offence to brandish a realistic imitation firearm in public.

Mr Ahern says the legislation is designed to halt the emergence of a gun culture in Ireland.

Oh noes a gun culture!

Tbh I thought they were already banned. Guess Northern Ireland remains the sole holdout in the British Isles. Kind of ironic if you think about it.

[Bono]

I just luuuuv Libertarianz. I apparently live in a hardcore dictatorship, since we have had such gun laws for quite some time.

Denmark bans handguns? I thought that the UK (sans Northern Ireland) and now Ireland were the only European countries to have an absolute ban..

[Bono]

Sounds like pretty common sense legislation to me.

See, this is why no one believes the Brady bunch when they say they only avor "common sense gun regulation".

[Bono]

I just luuuuv Libertarianz. I apparently live in a hardcore dictatorship, since we have had such gun laws for quite some time.

Denmark bans handguns? I thought that the UK (sans Northern Ireland) and now Ireland were the only European countries to have an absolute ban..

For your information I just checked politics.ie and found very few threads on the topic, most (possibly all) of which were made by someone in the target shooting community, the very definition of a minority pass time. Most people who posted saw this act as political grandstanding which will achieve little but makes the govt look like they were doing something (which is what I think it is). No-one argued that gun ownership was a 'right' or anything like that, only that it was wrong to discriminate against target shooters. No one argued for a liberal gun regime ala the United States - which was usually seen as the model to avoid. In short, no-one cares. No-one's idea of liberty is to be so scared that gun ownership is perceived to necessary for security (which strikes me as the opposite of liberty, but hey, whatever).

FYI I am actually against this legislation.

Yea, you are against the legislation, you just happen to think everyone else who is against it is an idiot.

Fundamental rights aren't (or shouldn't be) contingent on popularity.

[Bono]

Why are people ignoring the only actual Irish person to post in this thread?

"We"'re not, I replied to you, you just didn't reply but.

But did it ever occur to you that maybe the reason you don't know anyone who owns guns is because, even prior to this law, there were so many oops to jump through to be able to own one that most people were just too discouraged to try, even if they would have bought one if the laws were similar to the US'?

[Bono]

Yea Gully, thanks for ignoring all my posts and then complaining no one replies to you.

[Bono]

Yea Gully, thanks for ignoring all my posts and then complaining no one replies to you.

What precisely do you wish for me to respond to exactly. I have already covered the "previous gun laws prevented the emergence of gun ownership" argument I think.

Where?

[Bono]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Did you ever consider that the reason most people don't want to own a gun is due to the message that it sends out, at least in your own libertarian ideology. That the world is so scary than one needs a gun to protect oneself? Again this is NOT PART OF THE THOUGHT PROCESS OF MOST PEOPLE HERE. THE RIGHT TO BARE ARMS IS PROBABLY LOWER DOWN MOST PEOPLE'S RIGHTS THAN THE RIGHT TO SPIT USED CHEWING GUM ONTO COBBLESTONE STREETS. And that is no exaggeration.

Okay you ignore the caps (that was to emphasize the point to Mechaman).

Actually I recall now that I did know someone who owned a gun but it was a long time ago, a 12 year old gun nut and he was not from Ireland and certainly had no interest in protecting himself from crime.

The libertarian individual ideal is scary and actually nullifies individualism. The environment where one feels that one needs a gun to protect one's self is not one I'd like to live, and that is a good thing about the Republic of Ireland (yes, see, I can say good things about this country). People aren't suspicious. So why need a gun? (and to protect oneself from what exactly)

Do you really think that people in the US are all  terrified and live lives of constant daily terror?

[Bono]

http://www.examiner.ie/business/snsncweysn/

Farmers urge minister to rethink restrictive new gun licensing laws

By Ray Ryan, Agribusiness Correspondent

Saturday, August 22, 2009

FARMERS have called on Justice Minister Dermot Ahern to rethink gun laws that have just been introduced.

No new handgun licences will be issued under the legislation, with limited exceptions for Olympic shooting sports.

A Garda superintendent can now inquire into the medical, including mental, health of an applicant.

Those seeking licences will need to have character references and proof of having installed secure storage for their guns.

IFA countryside chairman David Wilkinson said all gun owners are required to invest a huge amount of time satisfying complex and confusing red tape requirements.

"This new system is a logistical nightmare which does not recognise the outstanding record of those who have legally held firearms in this country in the past.

"IFA Countryside has been inundated with complaints from worried members who are seriously considering abandoning the sport altogether," he said.

Mr Wilkinson said the licensing system should aim to keep firearms out of the hands of undesirables while making it user friendly for legal users.

"IFA Countryside were at no point, during the firearms’ consultative panels meetings, informed that red tape of this degree was going to be introduced," he said.

Ireland East MEP Nessa Childers claimed the issue affected more than 236,000 lawful individuals during the recent elections.

She said there was an urgent need for a single, comprehensive, updated code on firearms to fight gun crime but the bill was too reactionary and showed a lack of foresight.

"There is no evidence to show that legally held guns have been used in the commission of any crime. I am, of course, in favour of bringing the law up to date in the matter of licensing of firearms, their security and their use.

"I am not in favour, however, of measures purportedly introduced to tackle crime being used instead to put legitimate sports clubs out of business."

Mr Ahern repeatedly stated, however, that the legislation was designed to halt the emergence of a gun culture in Ireland.

He disclosed that there are 1,800 legal handguns that could exceed 4,000 in three years time and this was unacceptable. "While I know the vast majority of licensed gun owners behave responsibly, my paramount concern must be the protection of the public, particularly against the background of the level of gun crime which is taking place."

 

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, August 22, 2009

Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/business/snsncweysn/#ixzz0P6z0YVQt



Oh no 4000 guns, that would be a veritable anarchy!


And as everyone knows, gangbangers go through the trouble of getting a handgun license.

What an hysterical nincompoop.