James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I understand the Deputy is referring to the proposed new section 3DA of the Firearms Act 1925, which was approved as a new section 10 of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022 at Committee Stage in the Dáil on 8 November 2022.

The proposed new section 3DA (2) of the Firearms Act 1925 provides that three months after the section comes into operation, any firearm certificate for a semi-automatic centre-fire rifle that was first granted after 18 September 2015, shall stand revoked. Persons who held a firearms certificate for these types of rifles before 18 September 2015 will continue to be able to renew their certificates.

This section is proposed on public safety grounds, in line with a previous public announcement by the then Minister on 18 September 2015. The cap on new licences for semi-automatic centre fire rifles was among a number of measures identified during the substantial review of firearms licensing undertaken between 2014 and 2015; this included consultation with the public, stakeholders and the relevant Oireachtas Committee. This measure has also been a long standing recommendation of An Garda Síochána.

I acknowledge the dedication and responsibility of the owners of legally held firearms in the State, however, I share the concerns of An Garda Síochána in relation to public safety.

Firearms certificate holders who obtained firearms certificates in respect of semi-automatic centre fire rifles after 18 September 2015, will have their certificate revoked. The intention to revoke such certificates has been public since the Minister’s announcement in 2015, and in the intervening period steps were taken to raise awareness that any new certificates for these firearms stood to be revoked when the cap was introduced. The Commissioner’s Guidelines on the Practical Application and Operation of the Firearms Acts, which are publicly available, directs licencing officers and applicants to consider the upcoming restriction when an application to be licenced for one of these rifles is made. My Department has also advised Registered Firearms Dealers seeking to import these rifles that they would become unlicensable when the new legislation was enacted.

I believe that this is an appropriate and balanced measure given that it is forward looking from the then Minister’s public announcement in 2015 and not retrospective from before that date.