The Minister for Justice has said he will bring in new measures in an effort to tackle gun crime.
Speaking in Cork this morning, Mr McDowell said he would be proposing the introduction of mandatory sentences for those convicted of firearms offences. The Criminal Justice Bill is due to be published later this year.
A gun amnesty to allow people to hand over firearms is also being considered, he said. ``If we were about to consider introducing minimum penalties it might make sense to offer an amnesty to people in the possession of firearms simply so they could hand them over rather than sit on them and expose themselves to those increased penalties,`` he said.
Mr McDowell is in Cork to address the conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) .
As well as the tightening of gun laws, Mr McDowell is also reportedly going to propose, at Cabinet level, the introduction of 2,000 extra gardaí.
Labour spokesperson on justice Mr Joe Costello said it was "absolutely ludicrous" that Mr McDowell was is seeking Cabinet approval "for something which was promised in the Programme for Government and actually should already be in place".
The move comes after the murder of 64-year-old Joan Casey at the weekend. She was shot once in the chest by two armed and masked men in her home in Avonbeg Park, Tallaght, shortly before 6.30 a.m. yesterday morning.
Gardaí confirmed today they did not believe the victim, her husband or her brother, who were also in the house at the time, were the intended targets of her attackers.