are gunsmiths entitled to carry a weapon

iamthest1g

hello there

in conversation the other day, a friend told me that a licensed/registered gunsmith is entitled to carry a weapon during the course of his business .
just wondering is there any merit to what he said

ps im not a shooter so this might seem a silly question to yourselves !

Sparks

It's not gunsmiths, it's registered firearms dealers. From the Firearms Act, section 2(3)(c). Section 2 basicly says that you need a licence to possess a firearm, then has a list of exceptions:

This section shall not apply to any of the following cases and such cases are accordingly excepted from this section, that is to say:—
...
( c ) the possession, use, or carriage of a firearm or ammunition by a registered firearms dealer in the ordinary course of his business as such dealer;

(Their employees are covered by 2(4)(a) and restricted firearms dealers by 2(4)(j))

But there's nothing in the act itself about gunsmiths - it's just that gunsmiths are all registered firearms dealers in Ireland.

rowa

They would be entitled to transport firearms (NOT weapons) to ranges for testing and to other dealers, from garda stations etc. if you mean carry one as a personal defence carry , then no , as far as i know they are not.

iamthest1g

so in a situation when he is not a dealer , say going for a pint of milk in the shops, the exemption wouldnt apply?

Sparks

Correct. Going for a pint of milk is not the ordinary business of a firearms dealer. He'd need his own licence outside of work, and honestly, if you walk into your local shop to buy a pint of milk with a firearm slung over your shoulder, you'd better have a very understanding shopowner and very understanding Gardai. If it was a lad walking in to buy a pint of milk for some tea after coming back from shooting pheasant and the shotgun was in a slip, odds are nobody would be irate enough about it to press charges (thought that's neither a guarantee nor a recommendation!), but try that in Dublin 1 and you've got decent odds of getting the ERU out of bed...

4200fps

I was told by a dealer that he is not licenced to fire any firearm outside the address of his premises with a firearm he is not licenced to. If thats true or not I don't know. This might not relate much to your question but anyways

Sparks

4200fps wrote: »

I was told by a dealer that he is not licenced to fire any firearm outside the address of his premises with a firearm he is not licenced to. If thats true or not I don't know. This might not relate much to your question but anyways

That'd be about correct (with the important caveat that he could fire that firearm on a range, eg. for testing). Firing on his premises... might need a bit more paperwork

4200fps

Sparks wrote: »

That'd be about correct (with the important caveat that he could fire that firearm on a range, eg. for testing). Firing on his premises... might need a bit more paperwork

Sound . I mean he's not allowed to fire any other firearm that he's not licenced to outside address/townland where his licenced firearms store is

deeksofdoom

Your friend is watching too much telly, they have no more rights to carry a gun than anyone else.

4200fps

deeksofdoom wrote: »

Your friend is watching too much telly, they have no more rights to carry a gun than anyone else.

Yes to carry a gun but not fire it outside his licenced firearms store address/townland unless he's licenced to that firearm. I'd take his word as he'd be told what he can or cant do also I doubt Trapper John be too far off what he says as he is a gun dealer

meathstevie

Every person who has a licenced firearm in Ireland is allowed to carry and have that firearm in their possession, subject to various conditions, together with limited quantities of ammunition but the word "carry" or "possession" is not the Hollywood sense of the word.

It's the have it in your home or premises when not in use, or in your hands or on your person when you're going about a lawful activity involving the licenced firearm sense of the word. For a firearms dealer a lawful activity includes the possession for commercial purposes as in buying, selling, repairing, verifiably destroying, etc etc and because of the nature of their business they do not require seperate certificates for every single firearm in their possession but they do need to keep a detailed inventory that can be subject to Garda inspection at any time.

And as people have already made clear, that does not cover personally owned guns that are not kept for commercial purposes.

On a side note, it is quite possible that certain firearms dealers trading in Ireland have "weapons" or ammunition for "weapons" in their possession in Ireland from time to time. At the end of the day someone has to supply the State when it comes to the tools of the trade for the Defence Forces and certain branches of law enforcement but that's a different discussion.

Sparks

meathstevie wrote: »

On a side note, it is quite possible that certain firearms dealers trading in Ireland have "weapons" or ammunition for "weapons" in their possession in Ireland from time to time. At the end of the day someone has to supply the State when it comes to the tools of the trade for the Defence Forces and certain branches of law enforcement but that's a different discussion.

It's a correct point; but it's far more likely that its correct because of the dealers providing secure storage for local garda stations for weapons held as evidence in ongoing cases, rather than because the dealers are providing firearms to the AGS or PDF; those lads tend to try to buy from source rather than through RFDs

rowa

Sparks wrote: »

It's a correct point; but it's far more likely that its correct because of the dealers providing secure storage for local garda stations for weapons held as evidence in ongoing cases, rather than because the dealers are providing firearms to the AGS or PDF; those lads tend to try to buy from source rather than through RFDs

http://www.danieltechnologies.ie/

Sparks

rowa wrote: »

http://www.danieltechnologies.ie/

Bit of a gap between them and (say) Ballygobackwards Rod&Gun though

meathstevie

Sparks wrote: »

It's a correct point; but it's far more likely that its correct because of the dealers providing secure storage for local garda stations for weapons held as evidence in ongoing cases, rather than because the dealers are providing firearms to the AGS or PDF; those lads tend to try to buy from source rather than through RFDs

True enough Sparks, we'll be quickly drifting into European level tenders, end user certificates and security arrengements at ports and airports and all that jazz talking abut that sort of RFD's and that's quite likely just a touch outside the remits of our little sporting shooter community...:)

Hibrion

It's not the first time I've heard of a RFD trying to convince people that they had the right to carry a firearm. A friend of mine even came across a lad that kept a pistol in his car. Shocking stuff really, but they'll only get away with it until they're caught, and then a **** storm will come down on them!

Cass

Hibrion wrote: »

.............. and then a **** storm will come down on them!

Swiftly snowballing onto us.:rolleyes:

Hibrion

Ezridax wrote: »

Swiftly snowballing onto us.:rolleyes:

Very true.