@Brian Dunne: I think we were fed its like what it’s like in the movies but then technology came along and we all had access to information and it’s far from the movies, its a circus

@Brian Dunne: I had planned to emigrate to the US back in the 80s but got a job here instead. Boy was I glad when the internet came along and I was what the ‘American Dream’ was really like!

@Brian Dunne: agree completely, when I was a kid I dreamed about moving to America. I no longer harbour those feelings, the country is screwed

@Alan Peters: what movies were you watching son cos the movies I watched they spent all their time shooting at each other?

@Brian Dunne: one thing you can always count on is a large amount of sanctimonious American life experts in Ireland. If you think social media or movies accurately portrays a country the size of Europe with half the people and a level of diversity seen nowhere else in the world, you are making the rest of us look bad.

@Declan Doherty: quarter of a million licensed guns in Ireland, 43% of suicides were by licensed firearms nearly all murder/suicide incidents in the past 5 years involved licensed firearms.

Theft of licensed firearms increased by 60% last year.

No reason to have private gun ownership in Ireland. Let licensed shooting ranges own and store them, members can use them on the premises for target and clay shooting.

@Lee King Buckett: Where’s your source for this information? It seems off. Gun ownership in Ireland is heavily regulated and poses very little risk. The vast majority of guns used in crime are illegal firearms.

@Maximus_Demonus #FBPE: Irish independent article on 26th Sept 2021 covers the gun numbers and theft figures. National Suicide Research Foundation inquest report for the most recent suicide figures.

I don’t think I commented on illegal guns (I mentioned murder-suicide cases specifically as in a case where (usually) a family member kills someone (usually other family members) and then themselves.

I wasn’t referring to murders in general so apologies for any confusion. Also, it would be interested to find out how many of the illegal firearms used in incidents were stolen legally held Irish ones beforehand.

@Lee King Buckett: The independent article is sensationalist and outlandish. The true ownership rate is around 3% not the 1 in 8 wild claim. They also seem to overlook suicide amongst farmers who own firearms. I cannot find a source for the NSRF inquest report. I know people use legally held firearms to take their lives but the also use legally held medications and various other forms.

@Lee King Buckett: That article was hysterical hyperbole designed to whip people up and it clearly worked on you. Look for the DOJ figures to back up those theft figures and you won’t find them. In previous years they included all sorts of additional items like scopes, replicas, toys, fully automatic ie gardai/army etc. Go back to 2017 and you’ll find another article saying gun theft had dropped dramatically. Don’t take everything you read at face value especially where people have an agenda.

Look, we’re not going to agree but what you’re proposing is a massive overreaction to a problem that doesn’t exist. If you want to stop suicides go after the reasons why people decide to end their lives, not the method they choose. If people are determined they’ll just go to a range and do it anyway. Murder suicides thankfully remain very rare but even from the few we’ve had I can think of many that didn’t involve guns. Removing guns won’t end murder suicides. We have strict laws and a very sensible culture around guns in this country and they work. You’re just giving a knee jerk response to a very flawed article and writing off an entire category of sport based on your incorrect and ill informed assumptions.

@Maximus_Demonus #FBPE: I simply pulled the number of guns and the theft rate from the Indo article so I’m not sure the tone matters so much to that?

I get the point re medication but I would argue that medication has a valid purpose in terms of good use. Private gun use serves no beneficial purpose to general society – they are purely for shooting things (and unfortunately, people)

@Declan Doherty: guns and being sporty together sounds weird, I’d hope you’re not aloud to register for different type of guns!!

@Declan Doherty: do you eventually just say I wanna shoot as many pieces of clay as possible and pull out a machine gun? Or is it all about discipline?

@Alan Peters: I take it you have never watched a biathlon.
You may also like to know in the different disciplines of shooting, Irish teams do very well on the international stage, having world and European champions, and unlike other countries who sponsor their teams, us Irish have to fork out for everything and get zero recognition.

@Lee King Buckett: That’s where we will disagree, I am a registered gun owner. I use my guns to protect my sheep from predators, these firearms have a useful purpose. In case you think they don’t, have you ever witnessed a dog attack on a flock or witnessed a killing spree by male foxes on newly born lambs?

@Lee King Buckett: I disagree, the way most European countries including Ireland deal with legal private gun ownership is a good place to be.

A person of good character who wishes to hunt or participate in target shooting can licence and possess, subject to certain conditions, firearms suitable for that activity.

In the vast majority of cases that means break barrel shotguns and bolt action rifles of various calibers or semi-automatic versions with limited magazine capacity.

A minority of target shooters would use handguns for which licensing conditions are more stringent.