Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

The Minister did not identify the problems. I did not agree with mandatory sentences, which is the reason for the amendments. I assume, if a mandatory sentence is to apply to somebody caught with a firearm in suspicious circumstances, it would apply to a wife who picks up an unlicensed gun kept in the home. If a person carries out a hijacking or an armed robbery he or she knows what they are doing when they pick up the weapon. A child aged four years was found recently with a loaded gun. Are these suspicious circumstances? What if a person was frightened and could not account for why he or she were in possession of a gun? I know the Minister is adamant the section go through so I will not delay matters.

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