Cass wrote: »

Feels like it at times.

FPU rang station, they told the person from FPU they had contacted me about the app, that was about five weeks ago and nothing since. App was signed for at district office at 10.04am on the 3rd of June.................

If this nonsense is acceptable I'm Elvis Presley. There have already been criminal breaches of my data protection rights by persons at that station so I struggle to think what I'll do. Seemingly our new Superintendant is not available for meetings without eight weeks notice, or at least that is what the clerk, also a garda, would have you believe.

New app is for a 204. Incidentally I lost two ewes last week to fox predation, plus the topography out where the offending foxes have their den doesn't lend to using the HMR, unless I erect a high seat or drop a mini container out there with the tractor. Have had to ask a farmer from a neighbouring village to set about getting them sorted.

Anyways the cost of paying the company who brought the carcasses away for disposal would have gotten a nice few cartridges instead.

If nothing else, surely these needless delays and lax attitude of AGS in doing basic processing of applications is extremely unfair on the retailers/RFDs who seemingly must be expected to have limitless shelf space for items which he can't actually sell due to them being under deposit.

So basically, the FPU in this instance was not very helpful unfortunately.

I'll be meeting the Super at 7:30 monday morning when he arrives in for work seeing as the ill mannered lady at the clerk's desk refuses to make appointments at any other time. Hopefully then can find out what in God's name is going on here.

Cass wrote: »

Only option now is a letter to Super, directly to him/her, and/or a visit to brief. Perhaps a call to you NGB if you're associated to one.

If I write directly to the super I will get a reply from the clerk without him having seen it, unfortunately speaking from experience. God I'd hate if we were in a part of the country where the police actually had an excuse for being busy instead of the back arse of nowhere :-)

cw67irl wrote: »

If your super doesn't reply to a letter why not send a registered one, that normally does the trick!

Not around here unfortunately.

I've met him this morning and he says the decision notice had gone out in the post earlier this morn, seemingly they were waiting on doctor's correspondence back. His approach seems maybe to cross the t and dot the i on fca apllications a bit more so than might be completely necessary in the eyes of different superintendents.

However I got the impression of a poor attitude towards sporting firearms etc by this newly appointed superintendant, even hinting at policies he might take with licencing that have no legislative basis, irrespective of a person having fulfilled all of the criteria regards character, good and proper reason, safe use and secure storage etc. I got the impression that he believes there is a legal prohibition on persons having greater than three licences granted to them.

Also, he seemed to suggest that 'all he was getting' (from AGS) was to reduce firearms, reduce firearms, reduce firearms......... That is a policy which AGS are not, as yet, legally entitled to hold. Each application is distinct and seperate and must be evaluated thusly as per the law, not fairytale policies from Pheonix Park.

He seemed reluctant to even be polite enough to shake hands on leaving (nearly had to grab the poor fellas arm and get his hand lol) and seemed to have a sort of holier than thou attitude, suggesting why I didn't use a garda as a point of contact trying to find out what the farcical delays were.

Silently in my own mind, I wasn't able to recall any part of the Garda Siochana Act which puts Superintendants on a pedestal not accessible to mere law abiding members of the public. He would have better success on putting this notion forward if he at least had the respect to wear his uniform to work as he looked a bit like someone who slept outside in the shed a few nights with the creased old clothes :-/

An independant and properly-administered licencing process can't come quickly enough. The amount of needless frustration, legal expense and malpractice of certain AGS members all over the country since the current system came in is way too much and wouldn't be accepted in any other of our public services.

My €0.02 :-)

(Jeez if you add up all the two cents, that's a nice couple of euro to be spending ha) lol