The National Association of Regional Game Councils is to bring a High Court challenge to new Garda regulations covering the issue of gun licences on grounds they are unconstitutional.
The 20,000-strong organisation is objecting to a directive instructing local Garda superintendents not to issue or renew firearms licences unless applicants install a gunsafe in their homes. While the organisation says it supports the idea of gunsafes in homes, its main objection is that the directive states the storage facilities should be available for inspection by a member of the force at all reasonable times.
A statement from the NARGC said yesterday this clause is unconstitutional as it "violates the privacy of the home" and this is a new condition in the granting of a firearm which the Garda authorities are not empowered to invoke.
"The granting of a renewal of a licence is clearly laid out in the existing Firearms Act and only the Oireachtas can alter those conditions by an amendment of that Act," said the statement.
A spokesman for the NARGC said that while it encouraged its members to have gunsafes, the inspection of safes was at the core of its objections.
He said it had written to the Garda Commissioner to withdraw the directive and if he did not, it would seek a judicial review of the directive on Monday, July 17th.
The Garda claims the new regulations are necessary because three guns are stolen every week from homes and are subsequently used for criminal purposes.