Minister for Justice Michael McDowell is to introduce a weapons amnesty in advance of his planned clampdown on gun offences, writes Liam Reid, Political Reporter
The provision, which will be included as an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill currently before the Dáil, will allow people with unlicensed or unregistered firearms and weapons to hand them over to gardaí in order to avoid criminal prosecution.
The move is linked to mandatory sentencing for possession of firearms, which will introduce minimum custodial sentences for those caught with an unlicensed firearm, regardless of circumstances.
The amnesty will not apply to weapons that have been used in a crime, and the guns handed over during the amnesty are expected to be forensically tested to identify whether they were used during any recorded criminal offences.
It is one of a number of legal changes Mr McDowell is planning as part of a response to growing concerns about the number of serious crimes involving firearms.
These include new offences for modifying firearms, and heavier penalties for being in possession of a sawn-off shotgun, and a new offence of belonging to a criminal gang.
Eight people have been killed by firearms since January this year, most of them in gangland assassinations. This compares with nine such murders last year. There has also been a spate of armed robberies where families have been held hostage.
The amnesty will be one-off and will last for a number of weeks in advance of the introduction of the mandatory sentencing policy.
There are no reliable estimates from gardaí or the Department of Justice as to the exact number of unlicensed firearms in the State, although it is believed to be in the thousands. A similar initiative in Britain in 2003 resulted in 43,000 weapons and one million rounds of ammunition being handed over to police.
The majority of unlicensed firearms in Ireland are believed to be disused weapons, mainly shotguns, hunting rifles and old military weapons that belonged to family members.
The chief concern of the Garda is that these firearms could be stolen and subsequently used in armed raids or other crimes.
Mr McDowell had hoped to have the legislation passed by the summer recess but because of controversial amendments, including anti-social behaviour orders, electronic tagging and on-the-spot fines for public order breaches, Opposition TDs are expected to insist on a comprehensive debate.
The rise in firearm offences, especially in Dublin, has emerged as one of the main policing concerns at present, and the Government has been criticised by Opposition parties for failing to take adequate steps against it.