Arsenal of 1,200 stolen guns in the hands of criminals
CRIMINALS have amassed an arsenal of almost 1,200 stolen guns over a seven-year period, new figures reveal.
Despite tight rules on the safe storage of licensed weapons, 1,170 have been reported stolen to gardaí between 2008 and the end of March this year.
The alarming statistics were compiled for the Irish Daily Mail by the Central Statistics Office.
Security sources say that there are ‘countless incidents’ where stolen guns are used by criminals in hold-up and robberies.
There have also been instances where licensed firearms have been used to commit murder.
In 2012, Robert Hartery, 44, shot his ex- girlfriend Sarah Regan dead before turning the rifle on himself in Roscommon.
It is understood he borrowed the weapon.
In a more recent tragedy in 2013, 14-year- old Jake McGill Lynch, who suffered from a mild form of Asperger’s Syndrome, died from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.
He took his life at the family home in Clondalkin using a legally owned rifle.
There are strict rules f or obtaining a firearm. Owners must be a member of a game club, target club or have land permission for hunting.
The weapons cannot be issued to anyone of ‘intemperate habits’ or anyone who might be ‘a danger to the public safety or the peace’.
There are also strict guidelines for the safe storage of licensed f i rearms. Before anyone is granted a licence, they must provide documentation to gardaí proving they have a secure place to store a weapon.
Despite this, legally held arms continue to be stolen.
There have been instances where properties were targeted when criminals became aware that there were weapons inside, security sources say.
Firearms licences also are not granted to people with various criminal convictions.
There are over 206,000 licensed firearms in Ireland, according to Des Crofton, director of the National Association of Regional Game Councils. He said that 1,200 stolen guns therefore ‘represents less than one per cent’.
He said: ‘We have the tightest licensing regulations in Europe. If a firearm is stolen in a burglary, the householder is first and foremost a victim of a crime. The vast majority of gun-owners are compliant with the rules. If people do not store them properly, people can expect to lose their firearms licence.’
However, the family of a man killed by a convicted criminal who was allowed to hold gun licences say a recent Government review of firearms licensing ‘does not go far enough’.
The Irish Daily Mail previously revealed that the murderer of father- of-three James Hughes had been granted eight licences despite his five previous convictions, including for assault and ‘threatening/abusive/insulting behaviour’.
Shane Rogers blasted the popular GAA player with a shotgun even as the 35-year- old pleaded for his life. The killer had a licensed semiautomatic single-barrel Browning, a pump- action Anschütz with a silencer and a semi-automatic Beretta.
Section 4 of the Firearms Act 1925 states that a gun licence must not be granted to anyone who is ‘a danger to the public safety or the peace’.
An interim report on the review of firearms licensing compiled by the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána was published in April.
It recommended that the Garda Inspectorate review the current fi r earms l i censing regime and also that the Justice Minister should establish a national firearms control and advisory licensing authority.
But James Hughes’s sister, Rita Duffy, said the report did not ‘in any way’ address the problems associated with gardaí granting licences to convicted criminals. She said that her family, directly affected by lax gun laws, were not contacted by the working group while gun lobbies were allowed to contribute.
Rogers, 32, from Inniskeen, Co. Monaghan, fatally shot Crossmaglen GAA star James Hughes near Dundalk, Co. Louth, on the night of December 11, 2011.
A taxi driver and Rogers’s exgirlfriend were also injured. Rogers later handed himself in to gardaí, then killed himself in custody. Rogers targeted Mr Hughes because of misplaced jealousy after he saw his ex talking to the popular GAA player earlier that night.
Under Section 8 of the Firearms Act 1925, amended in 2006, those barred from holding a firearms certificate include ‘any person of intemperate habits’.
According to a directive issued to gardaí: ‘Other factors which may inform a decision on a person of intemperate habits may include evidence of aggressive or anti-social behaviour which may include domestic disputes or evidence of hostility likely to lead to violence.’
Yet former bus driver Rogers had five convictions, including one for assault in 2001 and another assault in 2005.
He had three other convictions between 2001 and 2006 for displaying threatening behaviour in a public place, intoxication in a public place and disorderly conduct.
The Hughes family claimed they asked gardaí if Rogers had any criminal convictions. The family claimed the gardaí told them on two separate occasions that he did not.
They intend to pursue a case against the force as they believe Rogers should not have been allowed to have weapons.
‘Danger to public safety or peace’