Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

Perhaps the Minister has changed his view. Many members of the public and of this House believe the Minister's measure is good because there is a public perception that it is a good measure, but it is not a good measure. Satisfying public perception should not be a basis for public policy. The proposal put forward by the Minister targets legitimate users of firearms, rather than criminals. We have a case where a scumbag murders a completely innocent individual, and all of a sudden several thousand innocent people are penalised. I challenge the Minister to provide any research that shows a correlation between the increase in legitimately held hand guns and any increase in their use in crime.

There is much research from those in favour and those against gun use. They can paint whatever picture they want, but it is important that the Minister produces research to show that there is a correlation. I do not believe there is. The real reason for crime and the use of guns in crime is social deprivation. Bringing in such a measure will not only not address the problem, it will assist in distorting the reasons we have crime. The public perception will be that we have taken a measure that will assist in dealing with crime, even though we have not addressed the social deprivation issues. We would be far better off if we talked about putting in additional classroom assistants to address the issue of dyslexia, rather than banning hand guns. This decision is wrong and I hope the Minister has the courage to reverse it. When guns were banned after the Dunblane massacre in Scotland, the use of handguns in crime increased over the next few years.

I support this amendment. I do not believe innocent people should be penalised to satisfy public perception, and this section will do nothing to address the difficulties with crime.

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