Minister of State at the Department of Justice, James Browne, has launched a new online survey to get feedback on a series of recommendations about the future of firearms licensing in Ireland.
It is estimated that more than 200,000 firearm certificates have been issued to date in Ireland.
Minister Browne set up a Firearms Expert Committee (FEC) last June to examine the current gun licensing system.
The FEC was tasked by the minister “to carry out an assessment of all types of firearms to determine their current use under the existing licensing system and their suitability for future licensing”.
The committee – which is made up of stakeholders and representatives from the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána – produced two reports which made recommendations to the minister on a wide range of firearms issues.
Among the recommendations were proposals that parts of the licensing system should be brought online and the current practice of issuing individual certificates for each firearm should be revised.
The FEC also suggested the introduction of different types of firearms certificates that would be aligned with the purpose for which the gun has been sought.
According to Minister Browne “no changes to policy or legislation following the recommendations of the FEC will be implemented without prior consultation with stakeholders”.
The Department of Justice said the new online consultation will “allow stakeholders to indicate their level of support for all of the substantive recommendations of the FEC”.
It asks participants to indicate their position on a range of questions including, for example, if they agree or disagree that “a review of the five-round limit applied to rim-fire short firearms should be undertaken and the minister should increase the five-round limit to ten rounds”.
“Minister Browne is encouraging as many people and organisations as possible to participate in the consultation so that everyone with an interest in these important matters can have their voices heard,” the department said.
The online consultation will close on Friday, June 2.
The minister also plans to ask national representative organisations to make open submissions to him on behalf of their membership in relation to the FEC recommendations.