Mr. Fergus Healy:

On the first point, people can have a licence for a restricted and an unrestricted handgun. Consequently, while I agree there is some comfort in the fact that the restricted handguns extant have a certain lifespan, the non-restricted handguns still can be licensed and will continue to be licensed under the current regime until it is changed. Consequently, this is a concern given the number of applications we are receiving from the public and the consequences with respect to any decision to refuse and on foot of what has been happening in the courts since 2012. As for the illegal guns, An Garda Síochána investigates criminal activities on a day-to-day basis in this jurisdiction and organised crime is a priority for the organisation to tackle. The weapons of choice of organised criminals are high-calibre handguns of the nature contained in the booklet I have given and shown to members today. As I have stated, our concern is that the legitimate owner is a legitimate target of those who are involved in organised crime. Our intelligence and our analysis of the crimes that have targeted these types of weapons have shown this to be the case. Despite having in place security arrangements and all sorts of alarms, safes and so on, these guns are still targeted. In some cases, burglaries have occurred in which rifles and shotguns were left behind and the handguns were taken. The Garda Síochána is quite clear with respect to the overall risk for society with regard to the type of gun that is available to the public to license today.