New to Ireland

Ed D.

I moved to Ireland from the States in May and am here for the foreseeable future. I have resident status as my wife is an Irish national, but I'm not a citizen. I'd appreciate a brief primer on if I can own and use firearms here, under what conditions they can be kept and used, and if I will be able to have my own long guns shipped from the States for use here. Any information or direction would be appreciated.

Thanks. Ed

rrpc

Well, first of all: Welcome to Ireland

Secondly, you've just landed less than ten miles from the only indoor range in the country! (that's Rathdrum btw).

Thirdly, you don't have to be an Irish citizen to own a firearm and get a firearms licence, you don't even have to be ordinarily resident in the country.:)

All smiles so far!

Now the long guns question.... Really depends on what they are. You can get a licence for most rifles providing you have 'good reason' and somewhere to use them. Rathdrum only has capacity for .22, so you'd have to go further afield if they're fullbore.

Midlands Shooting Centre would be the closest, but being in Tullamore, is at least 2 hours . They do have ranges up to 600m though and a centrefire pistol range and shotgun range.

So, a mixed bag methinks.

cavan shooter

If you are into game shooting may I suggest that you make contact with the local gun club(NARGC affiliated) (ironically may also be known as Game Preservation Society) get to know some members and look to becoming a member. (see NARGC website).

Best of Luck and persevere.......from little acorns big oaks grow etc:D

Ed D.

I'd like to shoot some clays and have a 12 ga. Rem. 870 I'd like to bring over. The rifles do include a .22, as well as a bolt-action in .270 Win. and a reproduction Rem. rolling block chambered for .45-70 gov.
Is a home gun safe mandatory? (My wife will think so in either case.) Is club affiliation? Are there any public ranges in Ireland? By that I guess I mean free. At least in Pennsylvania, there are areas of state game lands set aside for public hunting and some of these have public ranges adjacent. Generally self-supervised, with some monitoring by fish and game officers. (I think I can guess the answer.) Does joining a club require sponsorship from a current member or members?

I also have a flintlock rifle and cap-and-ball revolver. Are muzzle loaders legal? Can black powder be bought? I'm guessing no. Big no to any kind of home reloading too I'd imagine. (Prying loose the kitchen sink as I write.)


Thank you for the information and the welcome. Both are much appreciated.

rrpc

Ed D. wrote:

I'd like to shoot some clays and have a 12 ga. Rem. 870 I'd like to bring over. The rifles do include a .22, as well as a bolt-action in .270 Win. and a reproduction Rem. rolling block chambered for .45-70 gov.
Is a home gun safe mandatory? (My wife will think so in either case.)

More questions

A home safe is not mandatory.... yet. However the Gardai think it is and what the Gardai think usually goes . In any event, it usually is good practice to install one. For pistols, the Gardai are (usually) insisting on monitored alarms. (In some cases an ordinary alarm suffces, but Wicklow tends towards monitored)

Is club affiliation?

For pistols and full bore (target) rifles yes. There are different requirements for deer hunting full bores.

Are there any public ranges in Ireland? By that I guess I mean free. At least in Pennsylvania, there are areas of state game lands set aside for public hunting and some of these have public ranges adjacent. Generally self-supervised, with some monitoring by fish and game officers. (I think I can guess the answer.)

There are public ranges (membership not required), but all of them are commercial.

Does joining a club require sponsorship from a current member or members?

Normally, yes. The reasons for this relate to the position of clubs in the licensing system. You won't get a pistol licence without target shooting club membership, so there is a fairly heavy responsibility on clubs to vet prospective members. Having said that, most clubs are usually happy to see new members and do their best to make things as transparent as possible.

I also have a flintlock rifle and cap-and-ball revolver. Are muzzle loaders legal? Can black powder be bought? I'm guessing no. Big no to any kind of home reloading too I'd imagine. (Prying loose the kitchen sink as I write.)

There is new law in the pipeline to allow reloading and black powder, but at present it's not allowed. The law is passed, but that part (along with a lot more bits) has not been signed in by the minister yet.

Thank you for the information and the welcome. Both are much appreciated.

No problem. Have a look at some of the sticky threads here. Their purpose is to answer many of the questions new members have as well as keeping everyone up to date with changes. You will find quite a bit of information and answers to questions that you haven't even thought of yet.

Bananaman

Hilltop in Newtownmountkennedy also has an indoor fullbore pistol range
www.pcquad.com

They have a .22 50m benchrest range and a selection of Clay shooting layouts.

No Fullbore Rifle Range as yet

RRPC has covered the rest of the basics but if you want a pistol you will need club membership, safe and monitored alarm for the Gardai to progress your license application.

It should be noted that you wil need to apply for licenses for each firearm you intend to own individually and renew them yearly also.

Depending on the Garda you are dealing with they will have differing requirements when it comes to "use" as you must have a legitimate "use" for any firearm you intend to have.
If it is not for hunting it is only for competition (all pistols are for competition only)

Individual applications can take VERY long time and can be very frustrating - e.g. I have an application in since the start of July and there is as yet no light at the end of the tunnel. A previous applcation took > 6 months to be finally processed.

Hope it helps,

B'Man.

rrpc

Bananaman wrote:

Hilltop in Newtownmountkennedy also has an indoor fullbore pistol range
www.pcquad.com

Sorry, forgot about that . It takes a bit of getting used to not being the only one in Ireland anymore

Hilltop is one of the commercial ranges I mentioned in my last post.

Croppy Boy

There is new law in the pipeline to allow reloading and black powder, but at present it's not allowed. The law is passed, but that part (along with a lot more bits) has not been signed in by the minister yet.

Muzzleloading IS legal. The CJB quotes reloading as the reloading of cartridge cases, as no cases are used in muzzleloading it does not come under the reloading section. The Gardai here have no problem with blackpowder shooting. The problem usually is locating the powder.

Ed D.

Croppy Boy wrote:

Muzzleloading IS legal. The problem usually is locating the powder.

Guess that would be the Catch .22, or .50 and .44 in this case. The reloading question was meant to be a separate topic. Sorry for the clutter. Also have a trunkful of that gear across the Atlantic. I will check out those stickies. Thanks again.

Double Barrel

Welcome aboard Ed.