Judge’s warning on rise in gun licences

A HIGH COURT judge yesterday warned of the dangers associated with the growing numbers of guns in circulation in Ireland.

He said reasonable people were entitled to feel alarmed about the massive increase in recent years in the number of pistols licensed here for private use.

Calling for legislative clarification of the rules on firearms control, Mr Justice Peter Charleton said the increasing numbers of weapons licensed here for personal use — with 1,600 pistol licenses last year — is “exactly the opposite” to Britain, where handguns were banned in the wake of the Dunblane massacre.