Criminal Justice Act Implementation Update
As many affiliates and non-affiliates have been in contact with us asking about various topics, we have recently been in contact with the Department of Justice with regard to same.
The Department has come back to us to describe the process for registration as a RIF retailer. They expect to have a form for registering interest in the coming week, which you can return to the department. This will then prompt a visit from your local Crime Prevention Officer, to ensure compliance with the regulations.
As to the regulations, we have seen a close to final draft of these. They are along similar lines to our recommendations, which are available in the “Official Documents” section of our website. We appreciate all affiliates who came back to us with feedback and revisions for these recommendations, and they were very much appreciated by the Department. We expect these to be published very soon, probably along with the form for registration.
The target date for introducing the import restriction on RIF has been set to 1st January 2010 by our contacts at the department. The usual caveats around deadlines apply – this is not set in stone yet, but is a reasonable estimate.
We have also been asked by several affiliates and concerned players about whether clear plastic airsoft devices will be considered to be RIFs (as we’ve been informed that many markets are planning on bringing them in in bulk). We showed the Department of Justice some images, as examples of what they look like, and they are going to get back to us about it. They need to seek advice on what’s classed as a RIF, and how the legislation applies in this particular case.
We have also been in contact with senior Gardaí in the Firearms Policy Unit, who are working with the Commissioner and Local Superintendents to put in place guidelines for Superintendent permission, with our suggested guidelines as a base. If you run an Airsoft venue, and have not been in contact with your local superintendent to date, we recommend you do so soon, as we envisage a similar timeline for authorisations to be required for Airsoft sites.
We’d like to thank you for your patience in this process, and will of course keep you informed as to the information we have, when we have it.
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