Firearms and offensive weapons act, 1990

• Act Number: 12
• Enactment Date: 12 June 1990

Number 12 of 1990
FIREARMS AND OFFENSIVE WEAPONS ACT, 1990
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART I
Preliminary
Section 1. Short title and commencement. 2. Interpretation.
PART II
Amendments to Firearms Acts
3. Collective citation and construction. 4. Extension of Firearms Acts to crossbows and stun guns. 5. Amendment of section 10 of Firearms Act, 1925. 6. Authorisation to hold defective firearm without firearm certificate. 7. Possession, sale, etc., of silencers. 8. Reckless discharge of firearm.
PART III
Offensive Weapons
9. Possession of knives and other articles. 10. Trespassing with a knife, weapon of offence or other article. 11. Production of article capable of inflicting serious injury. 12. Power to prohibit manufacture, importation, sale, hire or loan of offensive weapons. 13. Forfeiture of weapons and other articles. 14. Power of arrest without warrant. 15. Search warrants. 16. Power of search without warrant. 17. Extension of section 8 of Criminal Law Act, 1976. 18. Repeal of portion of section 4 of Vagrancy Act, 1824.
Acts Referred to Criminal Law Act, 1976 1976, No. 32 Firearms Act, 1925 1925, No. 17 Firearms Act, 1964 1964, No. 1 Firearms (Proofing) Act, 1968 1968, No. 20 Firearms Act, 1971 1971, No. 13 Prevention of Crimes Act, 1871 1871, c. 112 Vagrancy Act, 1824 1824, c. 83
Number 12 of 1990
FIREARMS AND OFFENSIVE WEAPONS ACT, 1990
AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE FIREARMS ACTS, 1925 TO 1971, TO CONTROL THE AVAILABILITY AND POSSESSION OF OFFENSIVE WEAPONS AND OTHER ARTICLES AND TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN OTHER MATTERS CONNECTED WITH THE MATTERS AFORESAID. [12th June, 1990]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:
PART I Preliminary
	Short title and commencement.	1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990.
	(2) This Act (other than Part II ) shall come into operation on the date of its passing.
	(3) Part II of this Act shall come into operation on such day or days as may be fixed therefor by order or orders of the Minister either generally or with reference to any particular provision, and different days may be so fixed for different provisions of that Part.
	Interpretation.	2.—(1) In this Act “the Minister” means the Minister for Justice.
	(2) In this Act a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this Act unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended and a reference to a subsection is a reference to the subsection of the section in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other section is intended.
	(3) A reference in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended or adapted by or under any subsequent enactment.
PART II Amendments to Firearms Acts
	Collective citation and construction.	3.—(1) The Firearms Acts, 1925 to 1971, and this Part may be cited together as the Firearms Acts, 1925 to 1990.
	(2) The Firearms Acts, 1925 to 1971 (other than the Firearms (Proofing) Act, 1968 ) and this Part shall be construed together as one.
	Extension of Firearms Acts to crossbows and stun guns.	4.—(1) In the Firearms Acts, 1925 to 1990, “firearm” means—
	(a) a lethal firearm or other lethal weapon of any description from which any shot, bullet or other missile can be discharged;
	(b) an air gun (which expression includes an air rifle and an air pistol) or any other weapon incorporating a barrel from which metal or other slugs can be discharged;
	(c) a crossbow;
	(d) any type of stun gun or other weapon for causing any shock or other disablement to a person by means of electricity or any other kind of energy emission;
	(e) a prohibited weapon as defined in section 1 (1) of the Firearms Act, 1925 ;
	(f) any article which would be a firearm under any of the foregoing paragraphs but for the fact that, owing to the lack of a necessary component part or parts, or to any other defect or condition, it is incapable of discharging a shot, bullet or other missile or of causing a shock or other disablement (as the case may be);
	(g) save where the context otherwise requires, any component part of any article referred to in any of the foregoing paragraphs and, for the purposes of this definition, the following articles shall be deemed to be such component parts as aforesaid:
	(i) telescope sights with a light beam, or telescope sights with an electronic light amplification device or an infra-red device, designed to be fitted to a firearm specified in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (e), and
	(ii) a silencer designed to be fitted to a firearm specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (e).
	(2) The following provisions are hereby repealed:
	(a) the definition of “firearm” in section 1 (1) of the Firearms Act, 1925 , and in section 1 of the Firearms (Proofing) Act, 1968 , and
	(b) section 2 of the Firearms Act, 1964 , and section 2 of the Firearms Act, 1971 .
	Amendment of section 10 of Firearms Act, 1925 .	5.—The Firearms Act, 1925 , is hereby amended by the insertion in section 10 after subsection (3) of the following subsection:
	“(3A) (a) A person shall not sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of a firearm or ammunition for a firearm to a person who habitually resides, or to a body at an address, in a country that stands prescribed for the time being for the purposes of this section unless the superintendent of the Garda Síochána of the district in which the firearm or ammunition is kept, being satisfied that the transaction is authorised by the competent authorities of that country, also authorises it.
	(b) This subsection is without prejudice to the other provisions of this section and to section 16 of this Act but subsection (4) of that section does not apply to a firearm or ammunition for a firearm carried by a person from the State for the purpose of transferring it permanently to such a country as aforesaid.
	(c) In this subsection ‘firearm’ does not include a firearm specified in paragraph (c) or (d) (or in paragraph (f) or (g) so far as either of those paragraphs relates to the said paragraph (c) or (d)) of section 4 (1) of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990.”.
	Authorisation to hold defective firearm without firearm certificate.	6.—(1) The superintendent of the Garda Síochána of a district may grant an authorisation in writing to a person resident in the district, not being a person disentitled under the Firearms Acts, 1925 to 1990, to hold a firearm certificate, to have in his possession, without a firearm certificate, a firearm where he is satisfied that the firearm would not be a firearm but for section 4 (1) (f) and that the person has a good reason for wishing to keep it and may be permitted to do so without danger to the public safety or the peace.
	(2) The superintendent of the district where the holder of an authorisation under this section resides may, at any time, attach to the authorisation any conditions, whether as regards safe custody or otherwise, which he considers necessary and may at any time revoke the authorisation.
	Possession, sale, etc., of silencers.	7.—(1) A person shall be guilty of an offence if he has in his possession or sells or transfers to another person a silencer unless the possession, sale or transfer is authorised in writing by the superintendent of the district in which the first-mentioned person resides.
	(2) A superintendent shall not grant an authorisation under this section unless he is satisfied that the person who is to have possession of the silencer or to whom it is to be sold or transferred is the holder of a firearm certificate for a firearm to which the silencer can be fitted and that—
	(a) having regard to all the circumstances, the possession, sale or transfer concerned will not endanger the public safety or the peace, and
	(b) the person has a special need that is, in the opinion of the superintendent, sufficient to justify the granting of the authorisation for the silencer.
	(3) The superintendent of the district where the holder of an authorisation under this section resides may, at any time, attach to the authorisation such conditions as he considers necessary for the purpose of preventing danger to the public or to the peace or of ensuring that the silencer is used only to satisfy the special need for which the authorisation was granted.
	(4) An authorisation under this section may be granted for such period not exceeding one year as is specified in the authorisation and may be revoked by the superintendent of the district where its holder resides.
	(5) A person who contravenes a condition attached to an authorisation under this section shall be guilty of an offence.
	(6) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
	(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both, or
	(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both.
	(7) This section does not apply in relation to a person specified in paragraph (b), (c) or (d) of subsection (3) of section 2 of the Firearms Act, 1925 , or paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (4) (inserted by the Firearms Act, 1964 ) of that section.
	(8) In this section—
	“silencer” means a silencer specified in section 4 (1) (g);
	“superintendent” means a superintendent of the Garda Síochána.
	Reckless discharge of firearm.	8.—A person who discharges a firearm being reckless as to whether any person will be...