asked the Minister for Justice if a firm (name supplied) in County Offaly has been removed from the register of firearms dealers; and, if so, if he is satisfied that the arms formerly in the possession of the firm have been transferred to a registered firearms dealer.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Offaly Firearms Dealer.
74.
The registration of a firearms dealer is on an annual basis and the registration of the firm concerned, which had been engaged in the manufacture of shotguns and in respect of which a receiver has been appointed, has expired.
All firearms in the premises at the time of the appointment of the receiver were transferred to other firearms dealers with the exception of a couple which are still being held by the Garda Síochána on behalf of the owner, who had left them for repairs.
It appears that, shortly before the appointment of the receiver, certain component parts of a number of shotguns—in effect, they were shotguns in unassembled form—were removed from the factory and subsequently sent to his home in England by the managing director of the firm. No harm was done, however, as the local police in England were aware of the arrival of the consignment and dealt with the matter. In this connection, the House will be aware, from the terms of an amending Firearms Bill that I have circulated, that component parts of firearms are not covered by existing law but that the Bill proposes to alter that situation.