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Target Shooting in the News |
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Written by Mark Dennehy
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Monday, 26 July 2004 |
 From last thursday's Wexford People, a story regarding the Frank Brophy olympic pistol case.
No clipping, I'm afraid, but here's the text:
Landmark ruling 'will not lead to US-style gun laws'
A LANDMARK High Court judgement in favour of a County Wexford man who successfully challenged a garda superintendent's refusal to grant him a firearms certificate for a target pistol will not lead to a situation where Irish gun ownership is as liberal as that in the United States.
Both the gardai and Curracloe-based marksman Frank Brophy dismissed suggestions that gun laws could become significantly liberalised as a result of the rulings.
Gardai said they were still waiting for a direction following the cases brought by Mr. Brophy, a former national shooter, against the decision by Superintendent J.P. Kehoe refusing him certificates which would enable him to import the pistol and a .375 rifle.
The pistol refusal was recently quashed in the High Court and a similar hearing over the .375 application is due before the same High Court judge this week, with the State indicating it will not oppose the challenge.
Gardai said the decisions would not lead to a situation by which weapons such as assault rifles could be legally imported and licensed in the State and said the existing rules about a person's character and fitness to hold a firearm's licence would still pertain.
'No, not at all,' responded a senior member of the gardai, when asked to comment on the an 'alarmist' report that gun ownership here would become as liberal here as in the USA following the Brophy judgements.
Mr. Brophy told this newspaper that his High Court actions were not about liberalising anything.
'We have the strictest firearms laws in the EU and beyond, as evidenced by the 1925 Firearms Act and its various amendments. I was simply requesting the Court to instruct the authorities to act in accordance with existing law which was voted into being in Dail Eireann by the democratically elected Representatives of the people. It's a quantum leap from there to liberal US gun laws.'
Mr. Brophy, who takes part in target and game shooting both here and internationally, already holds firearms certificates. He went on African safaris and participated in shooting events around Europe.
The garda superintendent had made it clear the only reason for his refusal to grant him a certificate was a policy which precluded him from exercising his discretion to grant him one.
That policy appeared historically to have been dictated by Government and given the widespread application of the policy around the country, it appeared the policy continued to be dictated either by the Government or garda authorities.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 26 September 2007 )
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