When Ireland’s Firearms Expert Committee was established in June 2022 it included representatives from the legal profession, Firearms Dealers, An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice. Unfortunately, it did not include someone with expertise in European Standards for the secure storage of firearms and knowledge of related regulations and best practice in the rest of Europe.

The result of this oversight is that despite having produced two reports, the committee did not have the necessary expertise to have realised that Statutory Instrument No: 307 of 2009 - Firearms (Secure Accommodation) Order, 2009, which is repeatedly referenced in their reports, is the core reason Ireland’s firearms regulations are so out of line with European norms and woefully outdated.

Statutory Instrument No: 307 relies on British Standard 7558 “Specification for gun cabinets”, an extremely outdated standard from 1992. BS7558 refers to a “cabinet” not a “safe”, which can be as light as a 2 mm sheet steel construction, and quite unbelievably, can even be secured by padlock. Additionally, what constitutes a secure “gun cabinet” to BS7558 relies on subjective judgement rather than an accredited certification. 

The reliance on this outdated British Standard for the secure storage of firearms instead of European burglary resistance standards like EN1143-1 (the safe standard) or EN14450 (the secure cabinet standard), has not only created fundamental discrepancies in firearm security practices and regulations in Ireland but while other European countries adhere to stringent European standards, Irish gun owners are still being advised to seek products compliant with an antiquated British Standard from 1992, a situation which, it has to be mentioned, may also place European manufacturers of certified firearm secure storage products at a very distinct competitive disadvantage.

Aligning firearms regulations with European norms is long overdue in Ireland, while enhancing the knowledge base within the Firearms Expert Committee to include expertise in European Standards in relation to the subject is imperative. This adjustment would not only ensure compliance with European regulations but bolster firearm security across Ireland, aligning it with the higher standards and ease of verification followed in the rest of Europe.