Many Irish people pride themselves on the fact that Ireland is practically a “gun-free” nation.
When looking at the atrocities committed so regularly in the US by mass shooters, we comfort ourselves that something of that nature could never happen here.
The events at the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow town last Sunday night have perhaps shaken that belief somewhat.
The self-inflicted death of 22-year-old Evan Fitzgerald, who was already on bail and facing charges for the illegal possession of various firearms, while in possession of a shotgun gives rise to many questions.
How the young man came to the attention of the gardaí in the first place is well-documented.
A man with an admitted “fascination” with firearms, he and two associates ordered a number of high-powered weapons via the dark web — only to be apprehended by gardaí soon after acquiring them in March of last year. They had come into possession of a handgun, an automatic rifle, and over 40 rounds of ammunition.
Prior to his death, Mr Fitzgerald was facing at least 13 charges of possessing firearms, ammunition, and explosive substances. He had been released on bail on strict conditions pending trial.
Gardaí believe that he had been suffering from mental health problems prior to the shopping centre incident.
The first question is: How did a man with a known fascination for guns, who had no valid gun licence in his possession, come to be able to walk through a shopping centre with a fully-licensed shotgun?
The second question is: Was this incident an aberration? Could it happen again?
When one looks into the subject, one becomes aware for the first time of an unexpected statistic: Ireland might have a reputation for being gun-free, but that is simply not the case in practice.
According to the most recent annual report from An Garda Síochána, valid as at the end of 2023, there were roughly 204,000 licensed firearms in the country at that date, with several thousand illegal versions seized across the year. Each of those weapons would require an individual licence.
Put in simple terms, with an adult population of 3.8m people, roughly 5% of that cohort per capita owns a firearm — a massive figure by any standards.
‘Huge hobby’
That still leaves us far adrift of the US, which has about 120 guns for every 100 population, but it is nevertheless a significant figure for a country where law enforcement is typically not armed (the 5% figure is broadly in alignment with the number of firearms held by the British public).
“It’s a huge hobby,” says Pat Cooke, the proprietor of the Hilltop Gun Shop and Ranges in Newtownmountkennedy, Wicklow, and one of Ireland’s many registered firearms dealers.
He explains that the enthusiasm for shooting as a sport takes many different guises.
“It depends on what kind of sport someone is into. There’s clay pigeon shooting, which is huge. Game shooting. Hunting. Then there is just target shooting, which is huge again,” Mr Cooke says, noting that the day prior to our conversation he had a customer in his shop who had just returned from Britain, where he had travelled to take part in a target shooting competition.
“Quite a few people travel during the hunting season to shoot game in Africa,” the 74-year-old says.
I used to travel to Germany for shoots. Others go to Russia, Lithuania for super competitions. Quite a lot of people travel to Australia for world shoots
Asked what kinds of guns people are looking to acquire when they walk through his door, the broad response is: “Handguns and rifles, it varies.”
Asked how he first came to love shooting, Mr Cooke says he has been involved in the sport “from when I was a youngster”, when there were far more younger people attracted to it than there are now.
“When they were 16, they’d start shooting. We’d walk hail, rain, and snow for the sport with a dog and a gun,” he said.
“We didn’t sit at computers all day long, because we didn’t have any.”
So how complicated is it to get a gun in Ireland?
Well, there are two stages. The first is to apply for a licence via An Garda Síochána, a process which has no definite timeframe but will, by and large, take “weeks into months” to complete, according to sources.
There is one certainty regarding licensed firearms in Ireland so far as the gardaí are concerned: If you want a gun, you need to have a good reason.
The majority of licences relate to farming, other professional agricultural requirements, and hunting.
If you want to own a firearm in this country for recreation, then you need to be a member of one of the roughly 970 gun clubs in the country.
One key difference between the US and here is that there is one reason that will not fly under any circumstances when it comes to applying for a licence in Ireland: You cannot hold a gun here legally for the reason of your own security or self-defence.
Firearm application
To apply for a licence, the application is made directly to the local garda superintendent, a person who also has the power to revoke same. The process itself is not a pro forma one.
Once an application has gone in, the applicant will be subject to a garda interview. Their living space will be inspected to see where the gun will be kept.
All guns have to be kept under secure lock and key by their owners, while ammunition has to be stored separately in an inaccessible area. The applicant will be given guidance on the implementation of Ireland’s firearms legislation.
Every gun, meanwhile, requires a separate licence, meaning the process has to be repeated for every firearm without exception.
Then, once a licence has been obtained, the aspiring gun-owner can go about sourcing the firearm they desire. A lot of those guns will be purchased from the aforementioned firearms dealerships. Some others will be imported.
Receiving a gun in the post is not permitted, as every firearm has to be checked by the gardaí to ensure it conforms to standards.
In Mr Cooke’s case, all firearms are sold in person.
I do it all over the counter. I had bad experiences with couriers, so I try not to use them
The problem is that the case of Mr Fitzgerald shows that the strict rules that are in place can be circumvented.
Mr Fitzgerald didn’t have a valid licence himself. Even if he had, it likely would have been revoked given the charges he was facing. However, the shotgun he used was legally held — just not by him.
Given that rules can be gotten around, are we somewhat fortunate that incidents such as that which occurred in Carlow don’t happen more often?
“It doesn’t happen more because the regulations are in place, and there is a lot of process around the system,” says a source.
“Even if someone is involved in say a domestic violence incident, their situation would be reviewed.
“The regulations come down to the wording that only a ‘person suitable to hold a firearm’ may own one.”
Asked about the incident in Carlow, Mr Cooke says “it is something that shouldn’t have happened”.
He adds that “none of us know the true story”.
“If anyone has any marks on their character at all, they won’t have a licence. I have gotten calls from gardaí about people asking is there any doubt about them at all. I cannot give anything out, be it firearms or ammunition, you cannot even ask if you don’t have a licence,” he says.
One aspect of the conversation Mr Cooke objects to is the suggestion that obtaining a gun is the equivalent of acquiring a weapon.
“When someone is looking for a gun, they are looking for a firearm. A hammer is a weapon. We class guns as what they are,” he says.
He disputes that people with bad intentions could seek to acquire a gun legally.
“They have to go through all the rigmarole to get a licence, and they have to fit all the criteria,” he says.
Not that he has experienced any trouble at his own dealership.
“Absolutely, there has been very little crime.
“When it comes down to it, 99.9% of gunholders in this country are very reliable people,” he says.
