Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern today vowed to clamp down on legally-held handguns after a High Court judge criticised the soaring number of registered weapons.
Proposals will be brought before the Cabinet in the autumn on tightening up existing gun laws which were denounced as piecemeal last week by Mr Justice Peter Charleton.
Mr Ahern, who spoke with the Attorney General Paul Gallagher and the Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy about new legislation, said he was grateful to the judge for highlighting the trend.
“While I am aware that the vast majority of persons with licensed firearms pursue their interests legitimately, public safety has to be the paramount consideration and I will take whatever action is necessary to ensure that that is put beyond doubt in our laws,” he said.
The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform said there were presently around 1,700 legally held handguns in the Republic.
Mr Ahern, speaking outside the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council of Ministers meeting in Cannes, France, said he has ordered a short, intensive review on how to change the laws governing gun ownership.
Mr Justice Charleton last week hit out at the level of registered handguns in Ireland as he blocked an attempt by a shooting enthusiast to overturn a garda decision to refuse him a firearms certificate for a Glock 22 handgun.
The High Court judge claimed reasonable people would be rightfully alarmed about the large increase in the number of pistols licensed for private use.
The trend in Ireland was totally at odds with the ban on private handguns introduced in Britain after the shooting dead of 15 schoolchildren and a teacher by a man armed with two pistols and two revolvers in Dunblane, Scotland, in 1996, he said.
Mr Ahern said he has been concerned since his appointment in May at the increasing numbers of handguns being licensed and a series of court decisions favourable to persons seeking licenses.
Current legislation - sections 30 and 32 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2006 - allow for a new, stricter licensing regime for what are termed as ‘restricted’ firearms, which include the vast majority of handguns.
The minister has ordered officials to carry out the necessary technical amendments for his to happen and for a review of what further measures can be taken to tighten up the gun laws.
Gun enthusiasts have vowed to fight Mr Justice Charleton’s refusal to allow a challenge on the Garda decision to deny a licence to Donegal man Ronan McCarron for a .40 calibre Glock model 22 pistol.
Supt Peadar Kearney of Letterkenny Garda Station refused a licence on the basis that the weapon was particularly dangerous.