Legal in Slovakia for holders of category E licence (sport shooters). Only required aditional requiement for E cat. licence is membership in a sport shooting club (costs 20-40E per year).
https://www.reddit.com/r/EuropeGuns/com ... r_country/

same old boys club https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/de ... B1%5D=bill

Mr. J. O’Keeffe
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I have no difficulty with the section. The amendments are of a technical nature and I ask that they be considered.



Brendan Howlin
Mr. Howlin
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I have to start from a basis of ignorance. I do not understand what this is about, what "reloading ammunition" means, for example. It strikes me that it is a dangerous procedure. How many engage in this activity? Perhaps it is a regular occurrence, but it strikes me that there would be planning and health and safety issues involved. Is it necessary to provide for this in any way?



Michael McDowell
Mr. McDowell
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This arises from people coming to my Department and clinic. I had never heard of the phrase before and was not aware of the activity involved. If a person is an Olympics marksman, just as a billiards player chalk his or her cues, he or she will disassemble munitions to ensure the correct velocity or power. It is arcane in some respects but it does happen. Under the law, such a practice is illegal and regarded as the manufacturing of firearms. The people concerned have to test bench operations where they carry out these activities, all done in good faith. Specialised equipment is required. A person would not yank off the top of a bullet, shake out the powder and proceed in a crude way. It is a state-of-the-art process for the marksmen involved. They pointed out that technically what they were doing was illegal.


Mr. Howlin
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Am I misreading the amendment? I understood the purpose of this section was to allow firearms dealers to do this work.



Mr. McDowell
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No, it covers anybody who has a firearm certificate, which a person must have to carry out the work involved.


Mr. Howlin
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The new section 10A(1) reads: "A person (except a registered firearms dealer or the holder of a licence under this section) who reloads ammunition is guilty of an offence."


Mr. McDowell
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Yes, without a licence, it is an offence.



Mr. Howlin
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Could firearms dealers do this work?


Mr. McDowell
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If they have a firearm certificate, they can.



Mr. Howlin
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How many will be affected by this?


Mr. McDowell
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I cannot put a number on it, but I am sure it is——



Mr. Howlin
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Is the number entirely composed of competition marksmen, or are there others who may be reloading?


Mr. McDowell
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I do not know how many have firearms and for what purpose. The number who would dream of pulling apart a bullet and fiddling with the contents would be very small.



Mr. Howlin
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I hope so.


Mr. J. O’Keeffe
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They are high class shots who participate in competitions with a pistol.


Mr. McDowell
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By this definition an ordinary decent thug who wants to shoot somebody's head off will not reload cartridges. Only those who have a particular reason to do such as accuracy, muzzle velocity and related issues wish to have their ammunition at the peak of perfection.


Mr. J. O’Keeffe
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It is legitimate.


Mr. McDowell
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Yes, nobody who is bad-minded would be interested in this provision. If they were, they would be prosecuted for possession of firearms and ammunition.

Mr. J. O’Keeffe
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They would not be looking for a licence anyway.


Mr. McDowell
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Yes.


Aengus Ó Snodaigh
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Premises must be defined as being separate or distinct from living quarters. There should be a secure workshop. From the description of the Minister, I do not know where——


Mr. McDowell
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I will deal with those issues by way of regulations.


Aengus Ó Snodaigh
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Is there a section in the principal Act dealing with the repair of weaponry and associated matters?


Mr. McDowell
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We dealt with that matter in the previous section.


Aengus Ó Snodaigh
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This would not come under it; that is why I am asking.

Mr. McDowell
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This section relates specifically to ammunition. It deals with a quasi-manufacturing process for ammunition.


Aengus Ó Snodaigh
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Clearly, it has the same implications for the storage of equipment — the accelerant, gunpowder, etc.


Mr. McDowell
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If a person has a licence, a superintendent is entitled to apply conditions to it. I have no doubt these would be stringent.

Oh dear me. The ignorance is appalling. They are obviously unaware that a number of LEGAL shooters in the Republic have been doing this since 2011.

Their lack of basic terminology is understandable, as none of them have the slightest idea what is entailed in loading or reloading your own ammunition. They are currently limited in their comprehension by a total lack of anybody to TELL them what they need to know, in spite of all the documentation available on-line or in those wonderful hard-copy things that the rest of us mere mortals call BOOKS.

It is nothing less than shameful to read how so many people in authority can be so unaware of what everybody else in the free shooting world is doing.

Is there really nobody over where you are who can TELL them? Somebody from the F-class team at the Midlands, for instance? Or are they so far removed from us ordinary folks as to want to keep it all to themselves after all?

This is slowly getting to the root of the reason sport shooting in Ireland is in such a state of decline. Where is the dedicated sporting body representing the wider range of disciplines. Instead there is a vacuum from years of back door negotiations, slanted towards commercial interests..... Dail debates above and below, go some way to explain the lack of progress. The reloading debate was heading for success........?

Those debates leads us on to wonder about the happy ending former minister for justice hand in mind for the Irish sport shooter.
His intention and that of the DoJ was that the proposed legislation was designed to, quote - “it covers anybody who has a firearm certificate, which a person must have to carry out the work involved”.
Meaning, reloading of ammunition was to be made legally possible for anyone with a suitable firearm certificate in Ireland.

Why did the state think it reasonable to offer those with a firearm certificate the right to reload ammunition?

The answer was and still is a simple one to understand.

Quote again the former minister for justice Michael Mc Dowell....”By this definition an ordinary decent thug who wants to shoot somebody's head off will not reload cartridges. Only those who have a particular reason to do such as accuracy, muzzle velocity and related issues wish to have their ammunition at the peak of perfection.”

“If they have a firearm certificate”.....Meaning - they can apply for reloading ammunition, once they have an approved secure place at home......

In black and white ready for approval until something or someone decided to muddy the waters?

Oireachtas Debates
Criminal Justice Act 2006
http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/ ... 6062800016
Quote:
[1253]
Mr. McDowell: The amendment proposes to narrow down further what is provided for in section 10A(3)(e), which states: “the premises where the reloading is to take place are sufficiently safe and secure for that purpose”. The Deputy proposes to provide that the premises “has secure storage for required material and equipment and is separate and distinct from living quarters”.

I have consulted in this regard and the advice I have received is that the amount of material involved in reloading is quite small and that in some instances, for some people, the most secure place for them to have this equipment is at home rather than in some business premises. If a reloading sportsman who carries out this activity under a permit is required to have the equipment in a place separate from his house, such as a shed, business premises or lock-up premises, to keep the equipment in a separate location would perhaps be less secure than keeping it under the stairs at home or otherwise. It is a judgment call. The advice from the Garda is that it does not believe it would be a good idea to require people to keep all this equipment in a separate place from their home because it would be more vulnerable to theft than if it were kept at home. Sometimes one’s home is one of the safer places one has at one’s disposal.

You're going to need a new sport, this one's shagged. Anyone out there better focus efforts on a solution for the ineffectual opportunists dumbing down on your sport