A Garda directive on gun licensing and the storage of legally-held weapons is to be challenged in the High Court.
Mr Justice Kearns heard yesterday that many of the State's 200,000 legally-held guns were stored in wardrobes, car boots, outhouses and even under beds. He was told some had ended up in the hands of criminals and had been used in armed robberies.
Chief Supt Dermot Jennings told the court that 247 legally-held firearms had been reported stolen last year and in the first three months of this year 53 such weapons had been stolen. A shotgun stolen in Swords, Co Dublin, had been used in a shooting in Henry Street, Dublin, and the owner was unaware that the gun had been taken until contacted by gardai.
Ms Siobhan Phelan, counsel for the National Association of Regional Game Councils, said that her client and its 22,000 members were challenging a Garda directive which stated that gun licences would not be renewed unless it could be shown that the weapons were securely stored in gun safes.
The directive did not come into force until July 2001 for existing licence-holders, but it applied immediately to new applicants.
Ms Phelan submitted that the directive, which insists on Garda inspection of such safes prior to the issuing or renewal of licences, was unconstitutional in that it gave gardai the right to cross a citizen's threshold. While gardai had indicated that they would do so only by invitation, a refusal of inspection would lead to a refusal of renewal.
Mr Justice Kearns said the association was seeking an interlocutory injunction restraining the Garda authorities from bringing the directive into force pending a determination by the court of its constitutionality.
Refusing the injunction, the judge said matters of great concern arose concerning the safety, storage and management of guns in Ireland. He had been more than satisfied that the underlying policy and purpose of the directive was to improve the security and safety of legitimately-held firearms.
The judge said that the court would attempt to set a pre-Christmas date for the full hearing.