Gardaí want life in prison for gun crime

RANK-AND-FILE gardaí yesterday called for life sentences to be handed down to people caught carrying or using firearms.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) said there could no longer be any “willy nilly” approaches to tackling a new breed of violent gunmen in society.

Secretary general PJ Stone was commenting in the wake of Sunday’s shooting of Donna Clearly at a house in Coolock, north Dublin.

“We (as a society) must demand that people who use firearms in the commission of a crime, or people who have in their possession firearms without the necessary and appropriate licence should face life sentences on conviction.”

He said the proposal by Justice Minister Michael McDowell for a mandatory five-year jail term for possession of an illegal firearm did not go far enough.

“The minister and his Government must be clear in their message to the judiciary and the citizens of this country; that anybody who is in possession of a firearm for illegal reasons, if, on conviction, will serve a minimum of 20 years in jail.

“I’m not talking about putting in jail farmers or somebody with a legally-held firearm who forgot to renew it, because they certainly wouldn’t have that firearm with intent.

“If you have in your possession a firearm that is unlicensed, doesn’t fall into the category of a weapon which would normally be licensed and which could be reasonably meant to endanger life, I think the law can quite clearly distinguish between individuals who have intent and who have not.”

Mr Stone said there were criminals in the country who “rule by the principles of shooting people if they do not agree”.

“There is a new type of terrorist among us who uses fear and intimidation to become ‘Dons’ within their own communities.”

He said people were afraid of going into certain places in case they get caught in the crossfire of one of these internecine criminal wars.

Garda statistics show a 16% rise in possession of firearms cases between 2004 and 2005, from 365 to 424, and a 7% increase in discharge of firearms cases, from 292 to 313.