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Paddy Mc Ginn wrote: »

Do you need to take a competency course to get a firearms licence?

Yes and no.

Yes is that you have to show competence, but a course it not the only method to do this. It is however the "easier" way to show it.

Is there any other way to prove competency for a firearms licence.

The four ways to prove competence are:

1. Safety course
2. Letter(s) of attestation from other gun owners
3. Previous experience with firearms (job, etc)
4. Having a training license prior to seeking full license

I am part of a registered gun club but did not have a previous firearm. I also have permission to shoot on a relative's land. Thanks.

You've the hard part done so.

Training a youth in firearms happens in a controlled and safe environment (usually a range or wide open area) under strict supervision. Stick a 14 yr old behind the wheel of a car and you have limited, to no, control and its much more dangerous given you have to take them out on the roads where you'd endanger others.

Not a like comparison in the slightest.

Cass wrote: »

I'm not talking about the effectiveness or "competency" of the training/lessons for driving, but the place in which it takes place not to mention the ability to learn about gun safety/shooting from a much younger age.

I went out shooting shortly after i could stand upright. So by the time i hit 14 i had over 10 years experience of hunting, shooting, gun safety and practical experience.

Driving has a much more physical barrier in the form of being able to reach the pedals or more accurately control the vehicle and as said above having to be on a road, iow in public, to do it. Shooting doesn't.

I understand the comparison you're trying to make but driving, for me, is not the same.

Couldn't agree more.

I learned to operate a vehicle in a multitude of cars, jeeps and tractors way before I ever got out on the road, but while knowing how to take off, hillstart, use the right gear, handbrake turns, doughnuts in muddy fields etc was handy. Once you hit the road actually having to deal with traffic and laws and such was a whole different game.

Mind you, not having to concentrate on actually operating the car was certainly handier than learning that while encountering all the rest of the crap on the roads.

Same thing with shooting, I was shooting before I could hold a firearm by myself, and already had exactly what I wanted to get licenced on picked out by the time I was leaving primary school.

That method of learning, start them young(some will inevitably say too young) and develop good habits in a safe environment I think is far superior to mandatory lessons/instruction way later in life.

Speaking of which anyone got any experience with good ear defenders for young tykes(<5)?

Feisar wrote: »

Seen these at the weekend, was picking up paperwork.

https://wildhunter.ie/collections/hearing-protection-2/products/peltor-kids-hearing-protection-1

Interesting, cheers Feisar.

Peltor site for them says fits kids up to 7 so might be perfect!