The curious case of Article 38:With the new Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 now past the Dail and Seanad and merely awaiting the near-formality of the Presidential signature, the……

I’ve also been told that the intent is not to eliminate personal imports in the Bill – the intent is to eliminate buying the firearm over the internet and having it posted to you. All the mess about the imports is down to the drafting of the legislation. There aren’t any guarantees, but they may make changes to the Bill in the Committee stage this Thursday.

I am sorry but this is the first time that this issue has been brought to my attention and I am not familiar with the current state of play. I would be extremely reluctant to give you a reply before I have had a chance to carry out further research on it. I always feel it is unwise to comment on something that one is not well informed on. When I have done some research on the issue I will get back to you. Thank you for your question.
All the best,
Patricia

a chara,
Thank you for your query. Sinn Fein gave a general welcome to the firearms section of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 but have not yet taken positions on each individual provision.

During debates on legislation on this issue in 2006, my colleague Aengus Ã? Snodaigh TD called for an effective and modern licensing regime to allow for gun clubs and sport to continue while ensuring prudent gun control in the interests of public safety.

The ultimate objective of Sinn Fein´s approach to this legislation will be to achieve the right balance in terms of gun control and public safety while allowing the legitimate use of firearms, in particular sporting competitions and farm use to continue.

Is mise le meas,
Mary Lou McDonald MEP.

Thanks for your question. To be honest, I haven´t received any correspondence on this particular issue so wasn´t aware of it but I will bring it to the attention of the Labour Party´s justice spokesperson in the Dail, Pat Rabbitte TD who´s dealing with it in the Dail. Our initial position on the Minister´s proposals is set out in Pat´s statement of 20 May, available at
http://www.labour.ie
Best wishes,
Proinsias De Rossa MEP

I am unfamiliar with these laws in relation to weapons and the interaction
between state and EU law. I would need to study it more. Would this be a tax
generated i.e. more tax liable to be collected from sales in Ireland? It
would immediately strike me, that EU law is dominant. I have stated in my
Election literature that we have moved from a defensive conservative society
to an aggressive secular domain. This is happening to have sad repercussions
because there are more and more people around with less religious scruples.
They have no fear and leads to a sad increase in gun related crime. The
authorities have to try and stop this sudden breakout of wrongdoing. This
manifests itself in the Big Brother Syndrome. Sadly the whole legal and
justice edifice is overseen by people who can´t remember, did not hear, and
were not there, when asked to account for their own actions. Yes in this
system it is the normal law abiding citizen who feels aggrieved. This need
not be the case if leaders have ideals and are prepared to step down from
office when they get things wrong. It really amazes me that our leaders put
themselves back up for re-election when they have turned us into a country
riddled with Debt.

Thanks for that extra information
I like sports too, I’m a swimmer. |(not to technical as your sport)|

the situation you describe sounds ludicrous..! And I imagine, that having a gun dealer import your materials back into the country would not be done for free!

makes enjoying oneself and competing for their country more tedious with bureaucracy than it would otherwise be!

Thanks for the information. I look forward to returning on this issue with you for a press article , if not as a parliamentarian!
Noel

Thank you very much for your email. I will bring your query regarding the amendments to the Irish Firearms Acts to the attention of Mr Ryan and get back to you with his response and thoughts on this issue as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
Assistant to Eoin Ryan MEP