Shotgun disposal

Ecobluff

Hi
I've an old shotgun that I've rarely used and dont want to go to the hassle and expense of getting the new licence cert. The local gardai say take it to your gun dealer for disposal but the dealers are charging ca € 70 to take it off my hands! Is there a legal DIY way to do it or are there any dealers doing it for a more reasonable fee. I'm in Galway.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated

homerhop

Put up a notice in the for sale/wanted section in the shooting forum. There are lads in there looking for shotguns.

Ecobluff

Thanks homerhop but I don't think I could sell it or even give it away. Its an old cheap rusty single barrel with a battered stock so i think it would be best just to decommission it.

bunny shooter

Take a grinder to it in the FO's presence and he/she could witness/sign off on its destruction ?

xesse

yea... for the buzz , or cut it up into many parts and go back to the super and hand it to him/her
lol
see what happens
:rolleyes

bunny shooter wrote: »

Take a grinder to it in the FO's presence and he/she could witness/sign off on its destruction ?

bunny shooter

This has been done previously.

You must have missed the witnessed by the FO part :rolleyes:

Why do you have to hand it to a dealer ?

Dusty87

bunny shooter wrote: »

This has been done previously.

You must have missed the witnessed by the FO part :rolleyes:

Why do you have to hand it to a dealer ?

If you hand it to a dealer to be decommisioned what are the chances they could in turn re sell it? Just curious. Do you witness it or what??

bunny shooter

Once you hand it over for destruction and get a docket the dealer could do whatever he wishes with it unless you specified you wanted to see it destroyed.

AFAIK, not 100% sure though, a Garda has to witness anything the dealer destroys while it is being destroyed

dresden8

Just a quick question

Why would you have to hand it into a dealer to have it destroyed? Give it to the Gardai and let them deal with it.

Or is there anything specific which says this is the procedure?

cavan shooter

Give it in at the barracks, they have to take it particulalry if its out of ticket.

Cass

Dusty87 wrote: »

If you hand it to a dealer to be decommisioned what are the chances they could in turn re sell it? Just curious. Do you witness it or what??

When you hand it into the dealer he must give you a receipt to say the firearm (shotgun) was surrendered to him for destruction. You take that letter and your license or renewal notice to the Garda station. You fill in an FCA2 to cancel the license and give in the dealers receipt. Then when the Gardai have so many receipts they call around to the dealers and witness the destruction of all the listed firearms.

The firearm must be cut in 3 places minimum (if i'm not mistaken) but none that go through the serial number. Once this is witnessed the firearm is deemed destroyed. So if the firearm turns up at any point for licensing or sale at a later date the Gardai have recourse to track the dealer responsible for its destruction. You are safe and clear. I think you can destroy the firearm yourself (really not sure) but it must be witnessed by a Garda,not done and then turn up with a bag of pieces.

Charlie 22

When i wanted to get rid of mine a few months ago my dealer took it off my hands for two boxes of .22 ammo which was ideal for me as i knew it was only worth small money and i didn't have to pay 70 to get it destroyed.

Ecobluff

Hi all
Thanks for the suggestions, I've located a dealer in Clare who does it for €28 which I think is reasonable so I'll go with this.

Grizzly 45

The firearm must be cut in 3 places minimum (if i'm not mistaken) but none that go through the serial number. Once this is witnessed the firearm is deemed destroyed. So if the firearm turns up at any point for licensing or sale at a later date the Gardai have recourse to track the dealer responsible for its destruction. You are safe and clear.

Wonder what will happen when a "double reg " shows up in the files as destroyed and as legally held by some poor unwitting innocent??
Remember,the go by serial numbers not names of the gun.
So say an AYA serial number 1234 is regd as destroyed and should be wiped of the record.What happens if some poor sod has a BSA serial nr 1234 ,has it stolen or someone puts 2+2 together and gets 88!!!:eek:

I think you can destroy the firearm yourself (really not sure) but it must be witnessed by a Garda,not done and then turn up with a bag of pieces]

You could deact it,and take it into a gunsmith and see if they are satisified with the work and sign off on it.Saving them alot of time and work.Not too big a job to do with a good drill or a welder if you have one.

knockon

Mr Shotgun Owner: "Hi Garda - I have no intention of licensing the rusty shotgun"

Garda FO: "You must licence your shotgun or I will have to confiscate it you bold man"

Mr. Shotgun Owner: "Take it away so"

Problem solved at no cost to you? Am I missing something? Might sound a little pedantic on my part but hey they started it.

My question is also as Bunny said why do you have to hand it to a dealer?

Cass

knockon wrote: »

My question is also as Bunny said why do you have to hand it to a dealer?

Because the dealers are in a position to destroy them, ie. they have the tools and the Gardai do not want each station turning into a storage room for firearms. If a station took in 10-15 in one week and the Gardai could not get to destroying them for a month, what happens. They do not have the secure storage facilities for the guns and will not have the equipement to destroy them.

Plus a dealer is licensed to take in and store firearms, none of the Gardai are. Then the Gardai need someone with a knowledge of firearms to destroy the firearm. A dealer will know the best way to make the firearm unuseable, Gardai won't.

Grizzly 45

Without trying to sound pithy..."Really not our problem".
Wether the Gardai have the facilities to store,destroy or deal with perfectly legal firearms being handed in for whatever reasons.If their superior officers wont liscense them,you cant sell it or cant afford to have it deacted/destroyed or stored by a dealer.You hand it in,where according to the act ,the Gardai must either dispose of it or attempt to sell it for the market value and disburse the funds to you.
We just follow the law..The intricies are supposedly worked out by our betters and those in charge of our wellbeing..If they have a problem implimenting the workingsand technicalities of thier own laws....Not our problem.:pac:

sfakiaman

This from the Commissioners Guidelines would suggest to me that the Garda Síochána should accept unwanted firearms for destruction. If they don't like it refer them to the Commissioner or Ahearn who are jointly responsible for this whole mess.

The new three year firearms licensing system may result in a large number of existing firearms licence holders not wishing to reapply for a firearms certificate and as a result there will be a requirement to have those firearms handed over, sold, destroyed or otherwise disposed of.

Prior to the Garda Síochána accepting the hand over of any firearm or ammunition by any person, consent of the owner of the firearm/ammunition should first be obtained in writing. In the normal course of events, this will be obtained from the person who was granted a firearm certificate in relation to the firearm being handed over.

However, situations may arise where firearms or ammunition are being handed over to the Garda Síochána by relatives of a deceased, infirm or hospitalised person who may have previously held the firearm and where the firearm is no longer needed or wanted by the person or their family. In such circumstances it is vitally important that the Garda Síochána are satisfied that the person handing over the firearm has acknowledged in writing that they are handing over permanent ownership of the firearm or ammunition and that they have the authority of the owner to so hand over permanent ownership of the firearm.

Where a firearm is handed over to the Garda Síochána for destruction, this destruction shall be carried out as soon as is practicable by a registered firearms dealer or other authorised person and supervised by a member of the Garda Síochána. It is vitally important that the details are recorded on PULSE so that proper records are maintained in relation to every firearm. Also, form FCA2 should be completed if the firearm certificate is to be cancelled and forwarded to Firearms Computer Section, Garda H.Q. so that this cancellation can be recorded. When a firearm has subsequently been destroyed, this fact should be immediately forwarded in writing to the person who had handed over the firearm to the Garda Síochána.

In circumstances where a person is refused a firearm certificate under the new legislation but still has possession of the firearm, that firearm must be either handed over to the Garda Síochána for permanent destruction or to a registered firearms dealer as already outlined. If a person subsequently decides to appeal (under section 15A of Firearms Act 1925 as inserted by section 43 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006) a decision of an issuing person to refuse to grant a firearms certificate, the firearm must be handed over to a registered firearms dealer as outlined pending that appeal. Failure to do so will result in that person being in possession of an unlicensed firearm.

freddieot

+ 1 with Grizzly.

Hand into Garda Station, get receipt, problem over !

caprilicious

I wonder is there select Garda stations that take them in?

A friend of mine told me how an elderly relative passed away and one of the relatives handed his old gun into the local Gardai to be disposed of.

I would've thought they'd had some facility to take them in as if they confiscate a gun from you when you don't have a licence, don't they have to get rid of it themselves?

Odysseus

caprilicious wrote: »

I wonder is there select Garda stations that take them in?

A friend of mine told me how an elderly relative passed away and one of the relatives handed his old gun into the local Gardai to be disposed of.

I would've thought they'd had some facility to take them in as if they confiscate a gun from you when you don't have a licence, don't they have to get rid of it themselves?

Mate of mine did actually the same when his dad died, just turned up at the front office with two shotguns. They have no problems accepting them. However, some Garda members may view it differently if they are your own guns as oppossed to the person handing them in not having a licence for them. I think in a situation like that they would have no option but to accept them; they couldn't tell a person in possession of a unlicenced firearm that they are refusing to accept them.

gavlaw

i gave mine to a dealer an he gave me a ticket an that was the end of the gun