Guns aren’t unusual at all in Irish culture. You don’t have to dig too much, but take a look at military parades a few decades ago, many of them organized by the IRA. Armed paramilitaries represented an obvious force back then. Rifles, covered faces, kaki trousers, you name it, the whole menu.
Gun salutes were common at funerals, but illegal firearms were just as popular on the streets, not to mention people’s homes. Weapons are highly related to paramilitary culture, and Irish culture has plenty of it. However, those days are now behind us.
The gun culture isn’t just about the IRA, as things used to be just as dark in the past.
Digging into the Irish history
Around the start of the 20th century, Ireland was an armed nation. The goal? Independence. The Irish island is split in two. One side is part of the UK, while the other one is independent. It all happened about three generations ago, and believe it or not, there are still people who can relate to their parents’ stories.
Sure, back then, you couldn’t just use the gunsnprices.com ammo search engine to purchase guns and ammo online, but the street culture was quite intense.
By the time the Civil War started, guns were more popular than chocolate in private hands. And that’s exactly what led to the violent conflict. At the end of the war, it looked like the southern Irish got what they wanted, which was independence.
However, it was more than that. People were sick and tired of seeing guns everywhere, so they just wanted the military power to be fully transferred to the army. In 1925, the government came up with the Firearms Act, which eased the process.
Further bans and regulations were added in 2006 and 2011.
Ireland in recent times
Things went back to normal until recently. Gun crime and violence are slowly coming back in trend. The country is past the conflicts taking place over 100 years ago, not to mention the IRA attacks around the UK.
Surprisingly for some, the police still seize heavy amounts of guns, including automatic guns. The average citizen sees such actions with relief that no further crime will be committed, but clearing out the paramilitary mentality may take a few more generations from now.
Back in the day, Ireland did have its own armed tribes here and there. But this culture has no place in the civilized world. Armed resistance is no longer needed, yet it’s still seen as a threat. For most of the population, it’s been turned into an anti-gun culture.
Unfortunately, paramilitary resistance in the north of the island is far from being eradicated.
From many points of view, the Irish share the same mentality with Americans, but things are different in the USA. You actually have the right to carry a gun in the USA, with each state having its own rules. It’s a necessity in many places, at least for personal protection purposes.
A similar ideology regarding guns could be observed in Ireland throughout the 1920s and later on until the 1990s. However, the destructive power of firearms is no longer a requirement in the country.
Luckily for the average citizen, Ireland has one of the most restrictive laws in the world when it comes to guns, and it’s still not over. The government aims to make it even stricter. The result? Pretty obvious, a very low death rate associated with guns.
Recent years have brought some changes, though. And as a direct consequence, gun crime is gaining in notoriety as well. The same rule applies to the response, as new laws and regulations aim to extend bans and make guns even more difficult to find.
The same restrictions are applied in the UK. No one carries guns, apart from armed police, which is usually used against major threats. This automatically leads to fewer gun related deaths.
Ireland is clearly going through a cultural shift in terms of guns, and things seem to get back to normal. Paramilitary violence is no longer that common, yet specific ideologies can still be observed in various fields, from music to cinema.
Moving forward, it seems like Ireland will keep working on making gun rules stricter, lowering gun violence, and changing how people see guns. As Ireland moves towards a future with tougher gun laws and fewer gun problems, there’s hope for a safer and more peaceful community, free from the dark cloud of paramilitary violence.