Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

As I stated in my reply, I regard these two issues as separate. I do not regard what I am trying to do in respect of licensed handguns as the silver bullet or even part of the bullet to solve the issue of gangland crime and illegally held arms. Forty-two weapons that are regarded as handguns have been stolen since 2004. I do not have figures as to whether they have been used in the commission of offences but that is not the point. There are those who are trying to suggest that the Government is trying in some way to solve the problems of gangland crime and murder by the handgun ban. It is not; rather, it is trying to respond to the court decision that overturned the ban, which obtained for decades, on holding legally held handguns. Given the exponential increase in the number of legally held handguns as a result of a series of court cases, particularly the one in 2004, it is incumbent on the Oireachtas to decide by way of policy whether it wants, in households around the country, small weapons that are reasonably easy to obtain. I say this based on experience. We know the position on shotguns, for example. There are thousands of these available but, if one were to extend Deputy Rabbitte's logic, one would be banning ordinary household knives because they are potentially dangerous weapons. It depends on the circumstances in each case.

Having a licensed handgun in a house affords-----

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