Gun owners face tougher tests to get licences

A MAJOR review of gun ownership is planned before the end of the year as the Abbeylara Tribunal begins probing the shooting dead of John Carthy by garda marksmen.

Among the issues to be decided by the tribunal, and consequently the Dáil, will be whether the recipients of the 209,000 firearms licences issued each year should have to be certified mentally fit to hold a weapon every time they apply for a new licence or renewal.

Doctors, psychiatrists and solicitors could also face a statutory obligation to report to the gardaí clients they believe are unfit to obtain or continue holding a licence.