The 27,000 strong National Association of Regional Game Councils is to oppose what it termed "exorbitant" increases in firearms licence fees which have been signalled in the Finance Bill.
Des Crofton, director of the gun clubs organisation, said the fee for a rifle licence will rise to €170 for three years whereas the current fee for the same period (on an annual basis) is €114.
The levels of increases for other classes of firearms were even higher, with a shotgun licence rising from €75 over three years to €115, an increase of 53.33 per cent and second or limited shotgun licences from €18 to €30, an increase of 66.66 per cent.
Mr Crofton said it will cost a person who wishes to train €115 for a training licence for a shotgun and €170 for a rifle training licence, even though the training licence will not allow the licensee to possess a firearm.
Mr Crofton said it was also significant that it was proposed to charge €1,000 for a target shooting club to be authorised and €1,000 for a range authorisation, while in the commercial gun trade a gun dealer's licence is proposed to be only €340.
He stressed that his members were involved in a sport and the Finance Bill proposals were an attempt to "strangle the sport".
"The proposed fees appear in the Finance Bill 2007 and represent an enormous increase which cannot be explained by inflation or increased costs. In fact, as the licences are to be issued only every three years as opposed to annually, which has been the case up to now, there is a strong argument for a reduction in the fees to reflect the substantial saving in administration costs in two out of every three years," he said.
"The shooting and hunting associations, which represent more than 250,000 field sports enthusiasts, are extremely angry, particularly as there was no consultation of any kind with them before the proposed fees were included in the Bill," he said.