EDITORIAL: Does Ireland have strict enough gun laws?

With the recent news that shook every community in Ireland, regarding a shooting in a Carlow Shopping Centre, I’m sure I was not the only one to quickly worry if Ireland needs better gun laws.

After seeing the news I wondered how someone so young could get access to such a dangerous weapon?

Reports online say the weapon in the recent shooting was a shotgun, which is not easy to come by in Ireland, legally, anyway.

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In Ireland an individual who wants to own a firearm must obtain a certificate for each weapon that they own. Other requirements include ensuring the gun-owner is over 16-years of age and a resident of Ireland for the last six months.

Unlike America, you must have a good reason to own a firearm in Ireland. Simply owning one for ‘personal protection’ is not enough to be granted a license.

Applicants who wish to obtain a weapon for ownership must also prove that they know how to safely use said weapon and also know how to store the weapon as required by law.

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Owning a firearm without a firearm certificate can lead to someone being fined up to €20,000 and facing several years in prison.

After researching this, I’ve come to realise that it is not our laws or requirements that led to this awful incident, but it is likely the dark web and easy access to prohibited and illegal weapons via this route.

The question then must be asked, if more needs to be done to shut down this part of the internet. Due to the dark web’s decentralized and encrypted nature, this is no easy feat.

If a gun can be ordered online and shipped to anyone here in Ireland, and I think we need to do more to stop that chain of events from happening again sometime in the future.

I like living in a country where it is extremely unusual to hear of a shooting in a shopping centre, thank God. I just hope that with the rise of the dark web in recent years this does not change things.