Using weapons in Ireland

cathyc29

Hi all, just wondering if i can use a tazer or flick knife ? I was mugged in town yesterday, luckily only got my phone but tried for handbag too ! Terrified and dont feel safe going out now without something

themandan6611

cathyc29 wrote: »

Hi all, just wondering if i can use a tazer or flick knife ? I was mugged in town yesterday, luckily only got my phone but tried for handbag too ! Terrified and dont feel safe going out now without something

No you can't and if you did you could end up charged or any attacker could take them off you and seriously hurt you.

it's an offence to have anything intended to cause injury to another person in Ireland. You would be in big trouble if you got caught with either.

Firearms & Offensive Weapons Act
5. Where a person has with him in any public place any article intended by him unlawfully to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate any person either in a particular eventuality or otherwise, he shall be guilty of an offence.

6. In a prosecution for an offence under subsection (5), it shall not be necessary for the prosecution to allege or prove that the intent to cause injury, incapacitate or intimidate was intent to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate a particular person; and if, having regard to all the circumstances (including the type of the article alleged to have been intended to cause injury, incapacitate or intimidate, the time of the day or night, and the place), the court (or the jury as the case may be) thinks it reasonable to do so, it may regard possession of the article as sufficient evidence of intent in the absence of any adequate explanation by the accused.

7.
A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4) or (5) shall be liable—

i. on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to both, or

ii.on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both.

AltAccount

If push came to shove, could you actually stab someone (push through their outer layers, into their flesh, their shirt turning red with blood) for the contents of your handbag?

Sorry for being graphic, but whether it's legal or not, could you actually use it or would you just end up giving them a weapon to use against you?

I'm sorry you were mugged, it'll take a while to get your confidence back. Talk to someone professional if you can.

cathyc29

Thanks guys, just terrified to go out on my own now, have to bring husband everywhere with me !
Oh btw what abt pepper spray ? take it thats the same as a weapon too

Lawrence1895

cathyc29 wrote: »

Thanks guys, just terrified to go out on my own now, have to bring husband everywhere with me !
Oh btw what abt pepper spray ? take it thats the same as a weapon too

Weapon or not, pepper spray can go the wrong way, depending on the wind. The attacker laughs, and you are crying, if you know, what I mean.

cathyc29

Yeah very true. Have to go make a statement to guards but i know they wont get him ! Just glad didnt get stabbed or worse

cathyc29

cathyc29 wrote: »

Thanks guys, just terrified to go out on my own now, have to bring husband everywhere with me !
Oh btw what abt pepper spray ? take it thats the same as a weapon too

Pepper spray is illegal too.

cathyc29

Just gonna take some self defense classes !! might help if happens again

cathyc29

cathyc29 wrote: »

Just gonna take some self defense classes !! might help if happens again

That sounds like a great idea. Should give you back some of your confidence. Just remember the best weapon is your brain, being able to spot possible situations before they happen.
Hope all goes well.

Cookie_Monster

Deleted User wrote: »

it's an offence to have anything intended to cause injury to another person in Ireland. You would be in big trouble if you got caught with either.

hmmm... yet you can walk around freely with a bow and arrows. Bit bulky for your needs though OP.

Dyr

carrying anything with the intention of using it as a weapon is illegal. The irish gubberment likes law abiding citizens to be decent victims, it makes life so much easier for judges and coppers

Dyr

cathyc29 wrote: »

Just gonna take some self defense classes !! might help if happens again

Maybe not, buy this DVD first:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Facing-Violence-Things-Martial-Artist/dp/1594392285/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1341182008&sr=8-3

or the book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Facing-Violence-Unexpected-Rory-Miller/dp/1594392137/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1341182008&sr=8-4

ProudDUB

Is pepper spray legal to buy and use in Ireland?

scudzilla

ProudDUB wrote: »

Is pepper spray legal to buy and use in Ireland?

No and No

I think, alongside Tazers/Stun Guns, it's also classed as a firearm, probably wrong though

Gumbi

Self defense is a very, very grey area. The best advice I can in this short post is not to take anything taught to you for granted, avoid "weekend wonder" seminars, and train in something that allows you to dynamically test that which you are training, in order to verify that such techniques work under pressure.

Del2005

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Deleted User wrote: »

it's an offence to have anything intended to cause injury to another person in Ireland. You would be in big trouble if you got caught with either.

hmmm... yet you can walk around freely with a bow and arrows. Bit bulky for your needs though OP.

Once you use it it's become a weapon and the full force of our laws will come down on you. We're only allowed use reasonable force to protect ourselves, while pinning a scumbag with an arrow would be satisfying unless they had heat it isn't reasonable.

There are plenty of things people carry that can have dual uses, so there's no need to carry something illegal. Most women already carry an arsenal in their bag.

Dyr

Dual use is dodgy, I'm not a big city lawyer but i think it's the intention with which the object is carried that creates the offence:

"(5) Where a person has with him in any public place any article intended by him unlawfully to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate any person either in a particular eventuality or otherwise, he shall be guilty of an offence."

FreudianSlippers

Bambi wrote: »

Dual use is dodgy, I'm not a big city lawyer but i think it's the intention with which the object is carried that creates the offence:

"(5) Where a person has with him in any public place any article intended by him unlawfully to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate any person either in a particular eventuality or otherwise, he shall be guilty of an offence."

Yes, what we call mens rea or the guilty mind is the most important thing when dealing with "weapons" in Ireland. Certain things like knives are obviously illegal; where the grey area arises is say you are on your way home from a construction site where you work, you have tools and a screwdriver. In itself it is not illegal to carry a screwdriver - but say you are found with one at a nightclub at 2am or even worse, you use it to threaten someone at the said nightclub. I think you'd find it quite difficult to persuade any judge that you did not carry it for nefarious purposes.

IMHO we do need an overhaul of our self-defence laws including consideration of personal self defence weapons (pepper spray, tazers)... that's not high on the agenda at the moment unfortunately. Our governments (be they FF, FG, SF, Labour... the party doesn't matter) are seemingly incapable of doing more than one thing at once.

Dyr

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

Yes, what we call mens rea or the guilty mind is the most important thing when dealing with "weapons" in Ireland. Certain things like knives are obviously illegal; where the grey area arises is say you are on your way home from a construction site where you work, you have tools and a screwdriver. In itself it is not illegal to carry a screwdriver - but say you are found with one at a nightclub at 2am or even worse, you use it to threaten someone at the said nightclub. I think you'd find it quite difficult to persuade any judge that you did not carry it for nefarious purposes.

IMHO we do need an overhaul of our self-defence laws including consideration of personal self defence weapons (pepper spray, tazers)... that's not high on the agenda at the moment unfortunately. Our governments (be they FF, FG, SF, Labour... the party doesn't matter) are seemingly incapable of doing more than one thing at once.

Pepper spray? Tazers? We need shooters. And possibly swords. The gubberment don't want citizen's going around tooled up anyway, it muddies up the policing model we use.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Mod's this reads more like a legal issue than a DFC issue.

Procrastastudy

One way to look at it OP:

The reason you weren't stabbed or shot is because of the way the law works in this country. The mugger knew you were unlikely to put up a fight because people don't here. Let the stuff go - claim on any insurance if its there and remember its only stuff.

If we were to all start carrying around tazers and knives or maybe guns - muggers would walk up behind you stab and kill/injur you to steal your stuff. Most of these people are on drugs and therefore don't go though the same thought processes as you or I would if we were considering nicking something.

If we were all armed we'd all have to be more vigilant - to coin a phrase - why not skip a step and be more vigilant without arming ourselves.

In no way am I trying to lay the blame on you OP I hope the scumbag gets his comeupance.

Delancey

OP - unless you were proficient and trained in the use of weapons then there remains the very high risk of any weapon you carry being used against you.
Over 25% of US Police Officers killed on duty are shot by their own weapons when they were taken off them by their attackers.