Gardaí call for Uzis to be reinstated for use

Rank and file Gardaí have passed a motion at their annual conference calling for Uzi submachine guns to be reinstated.

They also want all members attending armed incidents to be given ballistic shields.

The Uzi was decommissioned in 2012 after Garda management decided it was not suitable for their operations.

Addressing delegates at the Garda Representative Association’s annual conference in Carlow, Garda Edmund O’Donoghue said gangland criminals are carrying sophisticated weaponry and the force needs to upgrade its own arsenal.

"Today [officers] with a pistol and a balllistics vest, with no tactical training - management expect them to confront armed criminals who have updated their own arsenal to an array of high-powered automatic weapons," he said.