The Republic of Ireland will become the second country in Europe to ban handguns, after the United Kingdom. However, unlike the UK, which imposed the ban in response to the Dunblane school shooting in 1996, the Irish government decided to act before a major tragedy involving handguns occurs.

The decision was announced 19 November, a week after civil society groups in Finland presented a petition to their government calling for a handgun ban there.

Dermot Ahern, Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform will shortly introduce a bill containing proposals arising from an intensive review of the firearms law.

Under the proposals:

• no new licences will be issued for handguns.
• existing licenses will not be renewed unless applications fully meet the requirements of a radically tightened licensing procedure where the safety of the community will be paramount
• the licensing procedure will be renewed annually and further types of firearms may be banned in future

Crucially, the bill will revoke any handgun licenses which may be issued between now and the enactment of the legislation, to prevent a rush of applications before the law is in place.

Mr Ahern said “While I regret the need for these proposals, the reality is that if we were subject to a Dunblane type incident or stolen legal handguns were used to kill innocent civilians the present situation, which has not arisen as the result of any policy decision, would be impossible to justify.”

Mick North, whose daughter died in the Dunblane tragedy, commended Ireland’s decision, especially the fact that it is based on prevention. “The government has not waited for Irish parents to suffer the pain of losing their children to a weapon which should not be allowed in civilian hands.”

IANSA members in Finland are inspired by the news from Ireland. Civil society is pressing for a handgun ban there following a mass shooting at a Kauhajoki college in September. More than 57,000 Finns have signed a petition calling for a ban. Laura Lodenius of Peace Union of Finland said: “This huge mobilisation is a great achievement. The Finnish population has really woken up since the Kauhajoki tragedy and there is a new atmosphere for change.”