According to wikipedia.org Irish law requires that a citizen must have “A good reason for wanting a firearm. Hunting and target shooting qualify as do certain other activities like humane dispatch of large animals. Personal protection does not qualify as a good reason.” Same goes — I mean doesn’t go for tooling-up to protect livestock and property. Huh. Check this out [via agriland.ie]. . .
Farmers in parts of rural Ireland are sleeping with loaded shotguns and it’s not a question of if they’ll be used it’s how soon, Clive Clarke, a Tipperary farmer has said.
Clarke, speaking on Newstalk radio, was burgled two nights ago making it the sixth time he’s been targeted.
“A group of men cut their way through the security fence into our farm and removed a tractor from where it’s parked in front of my shed.
“They burst open steel doors and proceeded then to steal a quad, trailers and other equipmentfrom the shed.”
Clarke said that not alone did they do that but they broke into his butchers business on the same night . . .
“There’s licensed firearms holders patrolling areas of the countryside at night because they’re in such fear.”
B-b-but what about the police?
The Tipperary farmer said that the Gardai are excellent, but the laws are not in place to let the Gardai do their job properly.
“If the Gardai suspect somebody, they have to have an air-tight case to be able to obtain a search warrant.
“We’re trying to farm with the threat every day of the environmental people, the Department of Agriculture…every one of them can walk into our farm at any time to do any inspection.
“So not alone are they coming at night to rob you they’re coming during the day with a shirt and tie.”
Stifling bureaucracy and a lack of police protection in a country with draconian gun control? Who’d a thunk it? Equally, how long before the Gardai visit Mr. Clarke and his armed friends to confiscate their guns?