‘Let rural dwellers have guns for protection’

People living in the countryside should to be able to apply for gun licences to protect themselves and their property, according to a rural TD.

Michael Healy-Rae, who holds certificates for three different guns, said firearms were very restricted in Ireland. They are linked to pest control and game hunting or sports, and one had to be a member of a gun club, or own land, to be granted a licence, he said.

However, the Kerry South TD said changes in rural Ireland meant communities now have to police themselves against ever-more aggressive and armed criminals. He claimed that with whole swathes of the country left without a rural Garda station, legislators may have to now open up the debate around legally held guns.