No. 13/1971:

FIREARMS ACT, 1971

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

1 Definitions.

2 Amendment of section 1 of Principal Act.

3 Amendment of section 2 of Principal Act.

4 Application of section 15 of Principal Act.

5 Sale, possession and carriage of parts.

6 Registration of dealers in sporting ammunition.

7 Short title, collective citation, construction and commencement.

AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE FIREARMS ACTS, 1925 to 1968.

[6th July, 1971.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

1.—In this Act—

"the Minister" means the Minister for Justice;

"the Principal Act" means the Firearms Act, 1925 .

2.—Section 1 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after "discharged" in the definition of "firearm" of "and, save where the context otherwise requires, includes a component part of a firearm".

3.—Section 2 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

( a ) by the substitution in subsection (2) of "under this section" for "under this Act and shall be punishable accordingly",

( b ) by the insertion after subsection (2) of the following subsections:

"(2A) Where a person is guilty of an offence under this section he shall be liable—

( a ) in a case where the offence relates to a sporting firearm or to any firearm in respect of which the defendant held a firearm certificate (if the firearm certificate most recently held by him was not revoked) or to any ammunition for, or component part of, either a sporting firearm or such other firearm—on summary conviction, in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding £50 and, in the case of any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding £50 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment,

( b ) in any other case—on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £200 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or to both such fine and such imprisonment, or, on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £500 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(2B) ( a ) In subsection (2A) of this section 'sporting firearm' means a firearm (other than a firearm of a kind declared by an order under this subsection for the time being in force to be especially dangerous) which is a shotgun having a barrel of not less than 24 inches in length or an unrifled airgun or a rifled firearm of a calibre not exceeding .22 inches.

( b ) The Minister may by order declare a firearm of a kind specified in the order to be especially dangerous and may by order amend or revoke an order under this subsection.",

( c ) by the insertion after subsection (4) (i) (inserted by the Firearms (Proofing) Act, 1968 ) of the following:

"( j ) the possession or carriage of a component part of a firearm by a person who stands authorised in that behalf under this section.",

and

( d ) by the insertion in subsection (5) (a) (inserted by the Firearms Act, 1964 ) after "this section" of ",or of any component parts of a firearm,".

4.—For the removal of doubt it is hereby declared that in section 15 of the Principal Act references to life and property include references to life and property outside the area of application of the laws enacted by the Oireachtas.

5.—(1) Nothing in section 10 of the Principal Act shall make it unlawful for a person to sell a part of a firearm, being a replacement, spare or extra part for use solely as part of such firearm, to a person (in this section referred to as the purchaser) who is the holder of a firearm certificate in respect of such firearm or who is entitled by virtue of the Firearms Acts, 1925 to 1971, to have possession of such firearm without having a firearm certificate therefor and no separate authorisation shall be required for the possession and carriage of such part by the purchaser.

(2) In this section "sell" has the meaning assigned to it by section 10 of the Principal Act.

6.—(1) Section 9 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (7) of the following subsections:

"(8) Registration (including registration in pursuance of a renewal of a previous registration) of a person in the register of firearms dealers may, at the discretion of the Minister, be made subject to the condition that the person shall not deal in firearms or deal in ammunition otherwise than by the sale and purchase of ammunition for shotguns, for unrifled airguns and for rifled firearms of a calibre not exceeding .22 inches, and a person whose registration in the register of firearms dealers is made subject to the condition aforesaid and who fails to comply with it shall, notwithstanding anything contained in section 10 (1) of this Act, be guilty of an offence under this Act.

(9) In any proceedings a certificate under the seal of the Minister stating that the registration of a person in the register of firearms dealers was subject, on a specified day or during a specified period, to the condition referred to in subsection (8) of this section shall be evidence of that fact unless the contrary is proved.".

(2) Section 10 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (6) of the following subsection:

"(7) The references in subsections (2) and (3) of this section to a registered firearms dealer shall, in relation to a sale of any firearm or ammunition, be construed as references to a registered firearms dealer for whom it is lawful to purchase that firearm or ammunition by way of trade or business.".

(3) Section 11 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (2) of the following subsection:

"(2A) If and when the Minister is satisfied that any person who is registered in the register of firearms dealers and whose registration is subject to the condition referred to in section 9 (8) of this Act has failed to comply with the condition, the Minister may remove the name of such person from the register aforesaid.".

7.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Firearms Act, 1971 .

(2) The Firearms Acts, 1925 to 1968, and this Act may be cited together as the Firearms Acts, 1925 to 1971.

(3) The Principal Act and this Act shall be construed together as one Act.

(4) This Act shall come into operation on the fourteenth day after the date of its passing.