Handgun Ban from Garda Review

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Licensed Handguns:
An alternative view

Licensed handguns have had a bad press recently. One member feels this is uninformed and unfair on sports shooters; he puts his case...

I was disheartened to read in the Garda Review, last year, where members of the Firearms Training Unit highlighted the threat of licensed handguns and expressed the opinion that legislation was loose and Ireland was beginning to liberalise when our nearest neighbours were outlawing handguns. In November the Minister for Justice outlined his agreement for this same position, and announced new legislation to ban private licensed handguns.

It appears uninformed opinion has become widespread around licensed firearms. It is regretful that whenever criminal activity occurs with a firearm, that politicians, the media, and now the Garda Review, quickly associate licensed pistols and revolvers with the criminal situation prevailing in our society.

I object to any inherent association between licensed firearms with drugs and crime. I am a member of An Garda Sioch6na, and also a member of a well known and reputable sporting club, which is affiliated to the Shooting Sports Association of Ireland (SSAI). I am obviously not involved in drugs or crime. Indeed, there is a thriving International Police Association (IPA) Pistol Club in Ireland whose membership are all members or ex members of An Garda Siochàna.

I would like to offer my colleagues an alternative view of handgun ownership, and pistol shooting, than what is being portrayed as a gun culture, and a social peril.

During my career I have carried official firearms on duty. I also have a military background as a firearms instructor. I now have an interest in pistol shooting in a private capacity. These areas give me reasonable insight into the use of firearms, and handguns in sport.

Over the past two years I have engaged in competitions in Lithuania, Ireland (North and South), competition with PSNI colleagues and with civilians from all communities. In the next two years, it would be my hope to enter competitions in Northern Ireland, Austria, Germany, Poland, Serbia, Lithuania, and Greece, with law abiding and respectable companions from Ireland, who are doctors, engineers, Gardai, defence forces' personnel - from every area of Irish life, except the criminal fraternity.

The subject of licensed handguns has become extremely topical as a result of sad and tragic circumstances in Limerick and Dublin, where decent law abiding citizens lost their lives at the hands of thugs. Comments have been passed about the so-called proliferation of handguns in our society, resulting, unfortunately in a political and media association between responsible persons holding licensed handguns, and crime. Members of the Garda Firearms Training Unit have spoken about the threat of licensed handguns. The threat outlined is purely speculative and, in my opinion, misinformed. Any perceived threat is from an individual, and if a person who might be a threat holds any licenced firearm, than there are measures in current law available to address that situation; revocation.

Many Garda members - including me - have been trained to use and carry handguns; most members and even other firearms users are unaware of the various sporting associations that use similar style pistols and revolvers, and whose membership are extremely safe, security conscious, and highly trained in the handling of firearms for sporting purposes.

I am familiar with recent judgements, including that of Mr. Justice Charleton, and the comments attached to the judgement. I am also very aware of the difficulties regarding granting, refusal and revocation of firearms certificates by Garda Superintendents. In this and other judgements, reference is made (as is commonplace), to weapons. There are no weapons in sports shooting, only firearms. It is also accepted by the shooting community that there is no place among us for anyone who wants to have a weapon, or who wants to engage in activity outside the remit of the grant of the firearms certificate.

I feel that rather than ban the handgun, that appropriate and reasonable measures can be agreed in consultation with the grassroots shooting community to enable sports shooters to continue with their chosen shooting disciplines, and to enable An Garda Siochàna to regulate the licensing, possession, use, carriage and storage of all firearms; not just handguns.

Many statistics have been published regarding the theft of handguns, at last count it was 32. At the time of writing this, the number is reputed to consist of stolen CO2 Pistols, antiques, replicas, decommissioned pieces, and a small number of handguns of .22 calibre and above. There are no statistics actually outlining the number of 'real' handguns, stolen or lost, from individuals, by calibre. Of greater concern is the number of shotguns and rifles stolen and unrecovered, which are multiples of the handguns stolen or lost, and known to have been used in crime.

Without delving too deep into legal jargon, the following comments made in the UK House of Lords stand out as interesting. In 1994, at a time of great unrest in Northern Ireland, Lord Tebbit asked the United Kingdom Government "whether they believe that public safety in Northern Ireland is prejudiced by the holding of licensed handguns by members of the public."

Lord Dubs replied, "Any firearm in the wrong hands can pose a risk to public safety. For this reason the law controls and regulates the legitimate possession and responsible use of firearms. Her Majesty's Government is committed to maintaining rigorous standards of firearms safety in Northern Ireland, as in the rest of the United Kingdom. But to be fully effective the law must be relevant and proportionate to the prevailing conditions."

Despite this, and in similar knee jerk reaction to what we observe in Ireland today, most handguns, of all calibres (even for sporting purposes) were banned in England, Scotland and Wales. Surprisingly, the ban did not follow through to Northern Ireland, where pistols and revolvers of various calibres, are still stored and used safely for sporting reasons by a broad section of society.

My shooting discipline, IPSC, is active in 80 countries throughout the world, 36 of those in the European Region. Regretfully, it is generally confused or associated with tactical shooting, which it is not. As a result, it has become unacceptable, and is being demonised and disparaged by many parties both in Government, and in the shooting community. Indeed, there have been statements made that the banning of this sport will be included in the new Miscellaneous Provisions Bill soon to be published. Imagine; a law to ban a sport.

Many studies are available from the UK and elsewhere which prove there is no association between licensed handguns and crime, and indeed one study in the UK shows a marked increase in gun crime from when the handgun ban was introduced. We also see a marked increase in gun crime in Ireland over the past years, totally unrelated to licensed firearms.

I sincerely hope that the sporting aspirations of people like me will not be harmed by uninformed debate. There are people who can satisfy a genuine need for a particular firearm to compete in local and international shooting disciplines, and not necessarily Olympic disciplines.

There is no threat to anyone from licensed handguns per se, and it is my belief that a reasonable approach to the issue will result in a set of guidelines or legislation that accommodates all sports shooters, satisfies the security of the public, while being relevant and proportionate to the prevailing conditions. GR

For personal security reasons, the author of this article did not feel it was appropriate to identify himself as a holder of a pistol licence in Garda Review but can be contacted through the editor.