Skip to main content

Gun Laws in Ireland by Ruben Rubio

In Ireland, “it is illegal for any civilian to use, carry or possess a firearm or ammunition without a valid firearm certificate which correctly specifies the owner, the weapon, the ammunition and its maximum permitted quantity.  Applicants must prove ‘good reason’ for ownership of the firearm applied for, and the [“Garda Síochána” (the Irish police)] must be satisfied that the applicant can be permitted to possess, use and carry the firearms ‘without danger to the public safety or security or the peace.' If the ‘good reason’ for firearm possession is target shooting, the owner must belong to a police-approved rifle or pistol club.”  (http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/cp/ireland)  I find it interesting that ammunition has to be registered in Ireland along with a firearm.  In the U.S. I have purchased ammunition from gun shows, gun stores, and gun ranges separately, and I also registered my two firearms without registering ammunition.  Furthermore, in Ireland not all police officers are qualified to carry a firearm.  The “Garda” are routinely unarmed, with only 20-25 percent qualified to deploy a firearm.” Those officers that are allowed to carry a gun must carry an authorization card that shows proof that they have completed a weapon training course and earned a certificate as proof of their competence in handling a firearm.  The “Garda” has 15,355 sworn officers and out of those officers approximately 3,000 have an authorization to carry firearms while on duty.  (http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/cp/ireland)  Gun homicide in Ireland is low.  For example, 84 homicides were reported by police in 2007 and 18 involved guns.  I wonder if the low homicide rate in Ireland is due to the strict civilian and police gun laws combined.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jeremy Griffith - The Roof is on Fire

1. CONTEXT: What were the circumstances that framed the meaning and process of this project? There are many minority teens in low-income, low-opportunity areas who have unheard voices. Their self-esteem isn't cultivated and all of their portrayal in the media is negative. 2. CONTENT: What was the issue, need, idea or opportunity addressed by this project? Teen voices were unheard, opinions of them were based on negative media stereotypes, and many of them had very poor self-esteem. 3: FORM: What is the medium that was used to address or embody the content? Immersive theatre in the form of car-conversations that audience members could eavesdrop on. 4. STAKEHOLDERS: Which are the groups or individuals that were invested in the project? The teenagers were very invested because of their desire to free their voices. The adults who helped were invested because they wanted to help these kids start to change the narrative. And the d...

Geneva Heron Assignments

Assignment: Aesthetic Evangelists - Due 1/30    Three key ideas in the text that resonate with me: The first is the idea of the "new public art," or what we would call "community engaged art." The article discusses the transition from art displayed in public sites to community based projects that have the goal of collaboration and focus more on the process than the end result/outcome. This intrigues me because before this class I was honestly very unaware of this form of art-making and its growing prevalence. Another idea that resonates with me is when the author talked about community based public art of today drawing on the urban reform rhetoric of the past both consciously and subconsciously. This stood out because it's an old adage that history repeats itself and I think it's interesting that the times we live in now call for a callback to this type of work and a more curious examination of what this can do for people and their communities. Th...

Mind Map - Bri Pattillo