from Bill Still
lass=”” >Ireland has some of the world’s most strict firearms and weapons control laws. People do not have the right to bear arms. Even hunting rifles are under strict control. The ordinary Irish police force, the Gardai [pronounced: Guard-Dee] are not armed and budget cuts have hit the Gardai hard.
In the past few years, because the Irish government gave into the EU’s demands of increasing austerity, the farmers in rural areas are now being plagued by armed traveling gangs of young men who steal anything of value from one area, then go sell it in another.
What about the police? As police stations close and are centralized to more urban areas. In rural areas’ police cars are virtually non-existent and when a rural resident reports a crime it can take over 3 hours for one of the few cars remaining to respond.
One resident, named Limerickman, wrote to us this morning and explained that the normally gentle Irish farmers are starting to try to buy hunting rifles, but the Irish news media and politicians lump all guns together in the eyes of Irish law, making them very difficult to get. Therefore it is nearly impossible to defend oneself and one’s possessions:
“Are these hunting rifles used during the commission of a crime? 100% NO.”
“Does Ireland have an illegal gun problem with gangland violence? A 100% YES.”
“When I hear politicians or anyone in the media give out this nonsense about gun violence, their reputation is in the bin as far as I am concerned.”
One veterinary doctor explained the situation in a report by Independent Ireland News:
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But the crime wave is also affecting city life in Dublin, the nation’s capital. This piece in the Guardian in February laid out the rising gun crime wave in that once peaceful urban center.
“As the international poster child for austerity, Ireland isn’t equipped to deal with the rise in serious gun crime….”
For example, earlier this year, at a boxing match in Dublin’s Regency Hotel, drug gang members dressed in police uniforms calmly sought out a leader of a rival gang and executed him in public.
Security cameras got clear shots of the gang carrying Kalashnikov AKM assault rifles and in a totally unarmed crowd, the hit team seemed fearless as they came and went unchallenged.
As a result, the Irish police have stated, unanimously, that they do not have the personnel, training or equipment to meet the emerging threat posed by the country’s gun culture.
The problem is that once a violent criminal culture begins to rule the streets, once they dominate over the police, the nation is effectively theirs and it is very difficult to win freedom back thru the rule of law.
I did a report on Iceland and Ireland on June 22, 2011 – 5 years ago. It was Still Report #18.
https://youtu.be/SixS1JMDgUk
In that video I offered a 5-step plan that would provide for Ireland’s complete economic recovery – a plan that would have prevented the austerity governance that has bankrupted the nation and led it to devolve into violence, poverty and despair.
It’s the same prescription I offer to every nation – including the UK. The UK recently voted to take Step 1 – get out of the EU. They already have Step 2 – issue their own money – because they never gave that power up to the EU. But because they have allowed so much immigration, they may yet succumb to the destruction of their rule of law.
Ireland can still reverse course at any time and return to a free republic issuing its own money to serve the interests of the Irish.
The only question is how bad does it have to get before the Irish wake up and take action.
I’m Still reporting from Washington. Good day.