Mr. Desmond Crofton:

Probably unlike my colleagues, I work as a full-time professional and have been representing shooting sports for the past 24 years. I work for the National Association of Regional Game Councils, which is the largest shooting organisation in the State. In respect of the matter before the committee, I am also representing eight additional associations. On behalf of all of them and the various supporting organisations, I thank the Chairman for affording me the opportunity to address the committee on their behalf.

Sport shooting in its various forms has always been popular in Ireland and today is passionately enjoyed by tens of thousands of hunting and competitive target shooting enthusiasts. It is an honourable pastime which demands skill, discipline, commitment and a very high level of responsibility. Some people enjoy golf or cycling or canoeing with great passion, and sports shooting people are no different except in one regard. Each and every one must pass a rigorous character vetting by the Garda, provide strict home security measures and meet a raft of other personal requirements to be allowed participate in their sport. This is a singularly unique difference between sports shooting and other sports, but Irish firearms owners have been staunch supporters of our strict licensing regime, which is the toughest in Europe, as the committee has already heard from one of my colleagues. The current regime was agreed by all the stakeholders, both State and sporting, and was implemented in August 2009, so it is only five years old. It is, therefore, not an exaggeration to say that all who participate in shooting sports are among the most law-abiding citizens in the State, having had to submit to rigorous vetting.

It should be no surprise to anyone, therefore, that the current measures to place further restrictions on access to our sport without just cause have been received with alarm and anger by sports shooting enthusiasts. A joint working group comprising representatives of the Department of Justice and Equality and An Garda Síochána has produced a report and recommendations which purport to address a public safety issue based on an unsubstantiated allegation of a connection between lawful firearms ownership and criminal use of firearms and a further unsubstantiated allegation that members of the Judiciary have expressed difficulty in interpreting the provisions of the Firearms Acts.

The data supplied to support the recommendations are variously false, selective, self-serving and biased. The facts of the matter are there is no credible evidence that such a link, and therefore risk, exists. The Sports Coalition submits that no data have been provided to support the contentions and recommendations in the report and we assert that no data exist which would substantiate the arguments made. On the contrary, we have submitted significant evidence that there is no link between legal firearms ownership and criminal use of firearms. We say that all the international data and studies demonstrate that restrictions on legal ownership of firearms have never resulted in a reduction in either gun crime or risk to public safety. In pressing that argument, we have repeatedly called for an independent risk assessment and we believe this is warranted where the State proposes to ban our lawful activities and seize our property. That request has thus far been refused. We submit that where the State proposes to seize private property, and in this case without compensation, which we believe would in any event be ultimately held to be unlawful, the State has a very high duty of care to ensure that its proposed actions are justified and proportionate to the risk alleged. That bar has not been met in this case.

The report and recommendations must be viewed against a background of serial breaches of the firearms legislation by the licensing authorities since 2009-----