Safe gun technology business may have to relocate from Ireland

A businessman, whose company is in talks in the United States to secure a multimillion dollar investment in “safe gun” technology, has said he will probably have to repatriate his business out of Ireland because of restrictions on guns here.

Pat O’Shaughnessy, and his business partner Robert McNamara are “very hopeful” of signing off on a deal in line with the Biden commission’s proposals on gun control, following an increase in mass shootings in the US.

US vice-president Joe Biden is currently heading up the commission and, according to Mr O'Shaughnessy, he is seriously considering making it regulatory for smart guns to be introduced in America.

Mr O’Shaughnessy said he was confident his company, TriggerSmart, will secure a major contract to license its technology to the US civilian market.

“It’s very likely. The reaction is very positive,” he said. “Everything is very positive and we hope to have a major announcement in the coming weeks to continuing that ongoing relationship with the US government.”

TriggerSmart has developed and patented a user-unique childproof radio frequency identification (RFID) smart gun technology. It means only the authorised user can fire the weapon.

The technology was developed in Ireland at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Athlone.

However, despite being welcomed in America, Mr O’Shaughnessy said the Irish Government and State job agencies have made it nigh impossible for him to continue to keep the company based here. He said he may be forced now to relocate to America, taking with him jobs, investment and capital.

The main problem is that getting permission to use firearms in Ireland as test weapons has been very difficult, he said.

“This is where the real grey area is. According to to the law there are restrictions on firearms in Ireland. But, technically you can still get a restricted firearm if you have a good enough purpose to have it.

“We have tried to argue that, for the purposes of research and development, it would be a perfectly good reason to be issued with a restrictive firearm. But apparently not. And, it’s very difficult to get a straight answer on it. We’ve spoken to [Garda] superintendents, the Department of Justice, the Department of Enterprise,” Mr O’Shaughnessy added.

He said IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland had been “friendly, professional and courteous”, but of little help.

His company, which is privately funded, also hopes to license its technology to US police forces and the military.