First Previous (PART II Amendments to Firearms Acts)

12 1990

FIREARMS AND OFFENSIVE WEAPONS ACT, 1990

PART III

Offensive Weapons

Possession of knives and other articles.

9. —(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), where a person has with him in any public place any knife or any other article which has a blade or which is sharply pointed, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) to prove that he had good reason or lawful authority for having the article with him in a public place.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), it shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) to prove that he had the article with him for use at work or for a recreational purpose.

(4) Where a person, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse (the onus of proving which shall lie on him), has with him in any public place—

(a) any flick-knife, or

(b) any other article whatsoever made or adapted for use for causing injury to or incapacitating a person,

he shall be guilty of an offence.

(5) Where a person has with him in any public place any article intended by him unlawfully to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate any person either in a particular eventuality or otherwise, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(6) In a prosecution for an offence under subsection (5), it shall not be necessary for the prosecution to allege or prove that the intent to cause injury, incapacitate or intimidate was intent to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate a particular person; and if, having regard to all the circumstances (including the type of the article alleged to have been intended to cause injury, incapacitate or intimidate, the time of the day or night, and the place), the court (or the jury as the case may be) thinks it reasonable to do so, it may regard possession of the article as sufficient evidence of intent in the absence of any adequate explanation by the accused.

(7) (a) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to both.

(b) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4) or (5) shall be liable—

(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to both, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both.

(8) In this section “public place” includes any highway and any other premises or place to which at the material time the public have or are permitted to have access, whether on payment or otherwise, and includes any club premises and any train, vessel or vehicle used for the carriage of persons for reward.

(9) In this section “flick-knife” means a knife—

(a) which has a blade which opens when hand pressure is applied to a button, spring, lever or other device in or attached to the handle, or

(b) which has a blade which is released from the handle or sheath by the force of gravity or the application of centrifugal force and when released is locked in an open position by means of a button, spring, lever or other device.

Trespassing with a knife, weapon of offence or other article.

10. —(1) Where a person is on any premises as defined in subsection (2) as a trespasser, he shall be guilty of an offence if he has with him—

(a) any knife or other article to which section 9 (1) applies, or

(b) any weapon of offence (as defined in subsection (2)).

(2) In this section—

premises” means any building, any part of a building and any land ancillary to a building;

weapon of offence” means any article made or adapted for use for causing injury to or incapacitating a person, or intended by the person having it with him for such use.

(3) 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 twelve months 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.

Production of article capable of inflicting serious injury.

11. —Where a person, while committing or appearing to be about to commit an offence, or in the course of a dispute or fight, produces in a manner likely unlawfully to intimidate another person any article capable of inflicting serious injury, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months 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.

Power to prohibit manufacture, importation, sale, hire or loan of offensive weapons.

12. —(1) Any person who—

(a) manufactures, sells or hires, or offers or exposes for sale or hire, or by way of business repairs or modifies, or

(b) has in his possession for the purpose of sale or hire or for the purpose of repair or modification by way of business, or

(c) puts on display, or lends or gives to any other person,

a weapon to which this section applies shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) Where an offence under subsection (1) is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or connivance of or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, the director, manager, secretary or other officer or any person purporting to act in such capacity shall also be guilty of an offence.

(3) 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 twelve months 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.

(4) The Minister may by order direct that this section shall apply to any description of weapon specified in the order except any firearm subject to the Firearms Acts, 1925 to 1990.

(5) The Minister may by order amend or revoke an order made under this section.

(6) The importation of a weapon to which this section applies is hereby prohibited.

(7) Every order made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Forfeiture of weapons and other articles.

13. —(1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this Part, the court by or before which he is convicted may order any article in respect of which the offence was committed to be forfeited and either destroyed or otherwise disposed of in such manner as the court may determine.

(2) An order under this section shall not take effect until the ordinary time for instituting an appeal against the conviction or order concerned has expired or, where such an appeal is instituted, until it or any further appeal is finally decided or abandoned or the ordinary time for instituting any further appeal has expired.

Power of arrest without warrant.

14. —A member of the Garda Síochána may arrest without warrant any person who is, or whom the member, with reasonable cause, suspects to be, in the act of committing an offence under section 9 , 10 or 11 .

Search warrants.

15. —If a justice of the District Court or a Peace Commissioner is satisfied on the sworn information of a member of the Garda Síochána that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence under section 12 has been or is being committed on any premises, he may issue a warrant under his hand authorising a specified member of the Garda Síochána, accompanied by such other members of the Garda Síochána as the member thinks necessary, at any time or times within one month from the date of the issue of the warrant, on production if so requested of the warrant, to enter, if need be by force, and search the premises specified in the warrant and to seize anything found there that he believes on reasonable grounds may be required to be used in evidence in any proceedings for an offence under section 12 or an offence under the Customs Acts in relation to the importation into the State of a weapon to which section 12 applies.

Power of search without warrant.

16. —(1) This section applies to a situation where a number of people are congregated in any public place (within the meaning of section 9 (8)) and a breach of the peace is occurring, or a member of the Garda Síochána has reasonable grounds for believing that a breach of the peace has occurred, or may occur, in that place when the people were or are congregated there.

(2) If in a situation to which this section applies a member of the Garda Síochána suspects with reasonable cause that a person has with him any article in contravention of section 9 , he may search him in order to ascertain whether this is the case.

(3) If in a situation to which this section applies a member of the Garda Síochána suspects with reasonable cause that some one or more of the people present has or have with him or them an article or articles in contravention of section 9 , then, even if the member has no reason to suspect that any particular one of the people present has with him any such article, the member may search any of those people if he considers that a search is necessary in order to ascertain whether any of them has with him any such article or articles.

Extension of section 8 of Criminal Law Act, 1976 .

17. Section 8 of the Criminal Law Act, 1976 , is hereby amended by the insertion in subsection (1) after paragraph (i) of the following paragraph:

“(j) an offence under section 12 (1) of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990.”.

Repeal of portion of section 4 of Vagrancy Act, 1824.

18. —Section 4 of the Vagrancy Act, 1824 (as extended to Ireland by section 15 of the Prevention of Crimes Act, 1871), is hereby amended by the deletion of “or being armed with any gun, pistol, hanger, cutlass, bludgeon, or other offensive weapon,” and “and every such gun, pistol, hanger, cutlass, bludgeon, or other offensive weapon,”.