Countryside Alliance Ireland - love the countryside

With the new Firearms (NI) Order 2004 becoming law in Northern Ireland on the 1st February 2005, Countryside Alliance Ireland has provided a detailed breakdown of the main changes to our firearms laws and their implications for Northern Ireland's 80,000 shooters.

Borrowing shotguns

The new legislation will permit a person, without holding a firearm certificate, to borrow a shotgun from the occupier of private premises for use on those premises in the occupier's presence, allowing non-certificate holders for the first time to participate in game shooting, wildfowling and pest control. Non-certificate holders will also be permitted use of a shotgun at a time and place approved by the Chief Constable for shooting at clay targets. Both exemptions do not apply to persons less than 18 years and the definition of occupier will also include the ‘occupier' of shooting rights.

One-on one-off transactions for shotguns

From 1st February 2005 a firearms certificate holder may without prior authorisation exchange one shotgun for another at a registered firearms dealers. There are no limitations on the types of shotguns that can be exchanged - any type of shotgun can be exchanged for any other type. The registered firearms dealer will retain the customer's firearms certificate, which will be amended by PSNI and returned directly to the certificate holder. With more than 90,000 shotguns being held on firearms certificates in Northern Ireland, this is welcome change in the law should greatly reduce delays in the licensing process.

Firearms certificates

The good news is that a firearms certificate will, in the future last for 5 years as opposed to 3 years currently and this will be phased in during the renewal process over the next three years. On the downside the PSNI propose to introduce a ‘more rigorous' system of re-granting firearms certificates rather than continuing with the current process of renewing them. Effectively every time a certificate expires the applicant will have to re-apply, submitting letters of authorisation from landowners, syndicates or gun clubs to shoot on lands owned/occupied by them. An applicant will be required to provide two references and indicate permission for the Chief Constable to approach his GP. Lack of past use of a particular firearm may also be grounds for the PSNI to refuse to re-grant a firearms certificate.

Referees

The new legislation will require an applicant for a firearms certificate to provide the names and addresses of two appropriate persons who have agreed to act as referees. The referee can be anyone who has known the applicant for at least two years but cannot be a member of the PSNI, a registered firearms dealer or a member of the applicant's family. Countryside Alliance has questioned the value of the reference system, as a similar process in Britain has not yet been proven to add any significant benefit to the licensing process, nor has its absence from the licensing process in Northern Ireland, in the past created any potential danger in terms of public safety.

Access to medical records

The legislation also requires an applicant to grant permission to the Chief Constable to approach their General Practitioner to obtain factual details of their medical history, which the Chief Constable considers relevant to the application. The PSNI have assured us that they will only approach an applicant's GP if they declare on the application form for a firearms certificate that they have suffered form one of a number of particular, specific mental illnesses.

Supervision

Under the new Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004, every person who is issued with a firearms certificate for the first time, or any person who is authorised to possess a firearm of a significantly different type than they had previously will be required to undergo a period of time when they will only be able to shoot under supervision. We believe this period will last six months and the supervisor may be any person who is over 21 years old and has possessed a firearms certificate for more than three years.

Minimum age

The minimum age at which a young person may shoot even under supervision is sixteen years, the NIO did initially propose to reduce this to 14 years, in an earlier consultation in 1998 but have subsequently reneged upon it. There is no minimum age limits set for young people in any other part of the United Kingdom and the Countryside Alliance Ireland also recommended that no arbitrarily determined minimum age limit should be put in the way of a young person who wishes to use any firearm - in a safe and responsible manner, and under strict supervision.

We believe that it is not necessary to impose a minimum age limit on young people, provided that an adult certificate holder properly supervises them. In our opinion the young person's age is not important, as the responsibility devolves to the certificate holder and the young person would be under their immediate and direct supervision.

Countryside Alliance Ireland will continue to campaign aggressively for the removal of barriers to young people entering shooting sports.

Ronan Gorman, Chief Executive Countryside Alliance Ireland said: "This new legislation is the result of nine years of sustained campaigning by Countryside Alliance Ireland (CAI) in partnership with the Gun Trade Association of N.I. and BASC."

While we welcome some of the changes that will undoubtedly bring benefits to the NI shooting community, there are a number of issues we feel the Government has not taken on board properly particularly the issue of minimum age. NI has some of the toughest firearms laws in the world and we in Countryside Alliance Ireland will continue to work constructively with the NIO and PSNI to deliver a fairer, less restrictive firearms licensing system, that strikes a balance between the legitimate aspirations of responsible firearms users and the safety of the public.

There is a need for commonsense implementation by PSNI - Countryside Alliance Ireland are working closely with them to achieve this.