Attempted burglary Aghamore shooting

FF, FG, what's the difference?... two cheeks of the same arse.

As the leading parties, singly or together they have overseen the stripping down of services.

It is only a matter of time before we have another dead "travelling" thief case.

it’s not self defence if you have time to go get your firearm , hid somewhere and then wait for someone to come to you property.Thats a straight forward “ I’m going to teach these F**kers not to mess with me “ .Unfortunately if you are a licensed firearms holder in this country you can’t do that.

Sad that to get a Garda response that he had to call the gardai and say that he fired shots.

If he called and said there was a gang of ethnic Irish robbing his house the response would have been "we'll send a car when one is available".

He will get his gun back as the law changed in 2022 and he is allowed to defend his property.

"When the van pulled up to collect him [the suspected burglar], he shot at the engine"

Very restrained response in the circumstances

But if there was a chance that the homeowner was armed, would the criminals not ramp up too, or even break in when they saw him leave in order to steal the weapon?

I can just see as weapons proliferate, an Irish version of the NRA kicking off to advise that the best way to avoid shootings was to buy guns, then of course the best way of avoiding mass shooting was to buy more guns.

Having worked with the things in the UK, the sad fact is that I know full well that guns and fruitcakes have a great affinity for each other.

Personally If I felt concerned I would pester my TD for better protection, as I would about migrants and other things hitting the news.

They don't affect me though, some thefts were carried out in the area, but the culprits were identified and I assume dealt with.

Likewise, I see migrants that came here years back working in shops in the town and they are now Irish, working and living here, as am I.

So consequently, I don't feel the need to bother my TD to address problems that do not concern me.

If I was more concerned about crime, I would be more inclined to pester him about drugs. Likewise I know no drug users or traders, but I would guess from the news that drugs are behind a considerable amount of crime.

Well the farmer involved in the recent story seems to have handled his gun perfectly competently.

Putting a few holes in a getaway van and none in himself.

Bit of a difference between a VW Transporter and VW Fox.

there is a certain inevitability to this story which will be the same next time.

We need proper policing.

Many good sized towns have 3 Gardai on duty, with illness, Court or other on the job absences that drops to 2 or even 1, 2 means one in the station and one car out single manned, that single manned car needs support from another similarly manned station for almost all calls.

its pathetic management and it is absolutely not policing.

Exactly, farmers with guns are very comfortable with discharging their firearms safely, with plenty of opportunities for practice against pests. It's not like they're someone who has a gun for "safety" or personal "rights" but never used it. They only have firearms in the first instance because they have a working need for one on their farm.

And who do you think in Ireland get killed by guns every year

Farmers, they shoot themselves or their families, rarely anyone else

Example? The guards took this farmers gun now he has no protection

example of a farmer shooting another farmer? How many times has it happened?

"The suspects were at the back of the van at the time, trying to load chainsaws, pots and other stolen items. They were not injured when the shots were fired."

In broad daylight on a fine day wasn't that a tad risky Not to be seen or even heard hiding in bushes for an hour, for the opportune time when both criminals were in the back and then proceed to shoot up the van?

"After this happened, he made an emergency phone call… armed gardaí who rushed to the scene and were there within 25 minutes...meantime, the van had been abandoned after it broke down about a kilometre away."

So inspite of a shotgun blast to the van's engine they were able to drive it about 1km before fleeing across fields. Who witnessed this, or was another vehicle involved?

"Bizarrely, one of the suspects called a garda station in Co Mayo using his own name to report the vehicle as stolen before he and his accomplice fled.

This man is expected to be arrested on sight, according to a source."

How realistic or believable is that statement, the driver called to report his own vehicle stolen before fleeing, what?!

Unless the culprits are named Dumb & Dumber this story has more holes than a Swiss proverbial.

And then there's the extra 3? shot holes in the van, when do they get an explanation in this story?

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/crime/farmer-opens-fire-at-getaway-van-after-third-burglary-gang-raid-in-a-year/a1750340359.html

There's not many reports of someone shooting someone else with legally held firearms compared to someone shooting someone else with illegal weapons.

There are probably lots of examples of people using weapons to end their life but if they hadn't guns they'd find another way.

Your link is one of the more extreme examples of the first but there's plenty of examples of people murdering a family member or spouse without a gun.