Carrying firearms

LHSholsters

Hello and apologies for the offtopic question. I am a gun holster maker from Bulgaria and I am really curious if concealed carry of handguns in Ireland have been banned or is still permitted?

Thanks for your help on the matter!

Sparks

LHSholsters wrote: »

Hello and apologies for the offtopic question. I am a gun holster maker from Bulgaria and I am really curious if concealed carry of handguns in Ireland have been banned or is still permitted?
Thanks for your help on the matter!

Concealed carry was never permitted in Ireland at any time in modern history. Nor for that matter was Open carry.

LHSholsters

Sparks wrote: »

Concealed carry was never permitted in Ireland at any time in modern history. Nor for that matter was Open carry.

Thank you Sparks - I got confused as I read a lot of different information on the matter and also found a shop that sells handguns as Glock,H&k and so on. Here is their address

http://www.shoot.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_18&products_id=9

Should I think that handgun permit can be obtained but the gun can only be used at a range and stored there as well? There is similar practice in other countries...

Sparks

Handgun certs can currently be obtained for air pistols and smallbore pistols; the owners of centerfire pistols which were held before 18 Nov, 2008 can also renew/reapply for their certs but no new centerfire pistols can currently be applied for (though that can be changed in the future).

These handguns can be stored at home or anywhere there is secure storage; however few ranges in Ireland can offer secure storage to their members.

However, no firearm may be carried in the way suggested by the terms "concealed carry" or "open carry". To do so would invite arrest under the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990 and that particular bit of law basicly assumes the guilt of the accused and requires them to prove they had just cause or authority to be carrying the item that they were arrested for carrying in a public place (you can use holsters and so forth on a firearms range or on private property). While some have argued in the pub that the wording on the firearms certificate form implies permission to openly carry firearms on the street, noone has ever been silly enough to try to convince a court of the merits of that argument because no barrister professional enough to appear in court would allow their client to make such a weak case when the penalties following a contested conviction are so high.

Sparks

Splitting out from an earlier thread.

LHSholsters

Thank you, Sparks!

Bananaman

Sparks wrote: »

While some have argued in the pub that the wording on the firearms certificate form implies permission to openly carry firearms on the street, noone has ever been silly enough to try to convince a court of the merits of that argument because no barrister professional enough to appear in court would allow their client to make such a weak case when the penalties following a contested conviction are so high.

It's far simpler than that.

Because ........... nobody that currently has a license - wants a carry license.

Most short Firearms - my own is Glock 34 - are far too big to carry even if you wanted to - that is not why we bought them.

As to holsters - most peoples are competition holsters - I use a Ghost Holster - designed for competition - not much use for anything else.

B'Man

StupidLikeAFox

Out of curiosity, why do people get handgun? Do they use them in hunting? (this may be a stupid question)

Bananaman

Target Shooting.

B'Man

LHSholsters

Glock 34 - Yes B'man, definitely not the one you want to carry around

In my country however, guns are mainly bought for self defense as people just do not rely on police to protect them.

So, from all replies that I received ( and I am very grateful for them) should I think that there is no market for my holsters in your country?

Bananaman

Ireland is a very small country and
Target shooting is a very small sport in Ireland and
Pistol Shooting is a very small sport within Target shooting in Ireland

So even at the peak there were very few people involved so it has always been an extremely small market compared to other European Countries.

I would advise you to create a new thread as people are not likely to follow a link or highlight items they may be looking for in the thread with this title.

You best bet would be to put up a link to a website or brochure and see who contacts you (You may need to put it in the For Sale forum - Mods will advise.)

B'Man

LHSholsters

Bananaman wrote: »

Ireland is a very small country and
Target shooting is a very small sport in Ireland and
Pistol Shooting is a very small sport within Target shooting in Ireland

So even at the peak there were very few people involved so it has always been an extremely small market compared to other European Countries.

I would advise you to create a new thread as people are not likely to follow a link or highlight items they may be looking for in the thread with this title.

You best bet would be to put up a link to a website or brochure and see who contacts you (You may need to put it in the For Sale forum - Mods will advise.)

B'Man

Thanks for the advice B'man. My website will be ready by the end of the week and I will definitely do that. Have a great day!

Sparks

Bananaman wrote: »

Because ........... nobody that currently has a license - wants a carry license.

Aside from the point that you can't speak for all 389 or so people who have a licence for a centerfire pistol - not to mention the ~180,000-200,000 others who have licences for other kinds of firearm - I do hope you're right. However, the question has been asked several times on here in the past from 2006 to only five months ago as to whether the law permits this or not (not always from people looking to do it, granted, but there are enough anecdotes of people doing this that I can well believe someone misread their firearms cert at least once...):

• http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054879976
• http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055054724
• http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055140974
• http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055255705
• http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=67047702&postcount=20

So I think it's the right thing to do to point out what we've pointed out every time this has come up in the past; namely that it's illegal to do so.

canttakeajoke

ColHol wrote: »

Out of curiosity, why do people get handgun? Do they use them in hunting? (this may be a stupid question)

Part of licencing a hunter of wild boar in Germany is you must possess a handgun for dispatch.
Nanny states like ours still dont trust citizens enough to hunt properly, hope that answers your question??

demonloop

You could sell your holsters in Northern Ireland, where licenses are issued for carry/security purposes; although not on a huge scale.

firefly08

Out of curiosity, why do people get handgun? Do they use them in hunting?

They are sometimes used for hunting in the US also. A few days ago I was lucky enough to shoot a .44 Magnum at a local range (in the US). The owner told me he hunts deer with it, and has killed a few over the years, and I have no trouble believing it. It's not that far off the smaller deer calibres in terms of muzzle energy.

I don't know if it's legal to hunt in Ireland with a handgun though. In any case you can no longer get a license for the kind of handgun you'd need for humanely killing a deer. For now.

Manic Moran

They are sometimes used for hunting in the US also. A few days ago I was lucky enough to shoot a .44 Magnum at a local range (in the US). The owner told me he hunts deer with it, and has killed a few over the years, and I have no trouble believing it.

It's considered a more challenging form of hunting, on a par with crossbow. You need to be able to sneak up much closer to your target with a handgun than you would with a rifle.

NTM

tfox

Correct me if I'm wrong but was there not a case for having a WPP (weapon for personal protection) a while back .....?

Not sure where I heard it but I think it was for the likes of our wonderful government and there minders/drivers durig the troubles ....

Sparks

Long while back tfox, I've not heard of any recent cases (and by recent I mean post-Good Friday Agreement).

tfox

Cheers Sparks.

Sometimes I get confused, spent half my life in Scotland so get mixed up btween here and there, what rules apply where and when

murph226

Maybe you could make rifle slings and bolt holsters/carriers instead?