Republicans are very fond of tossing around
wild and unsubstantiated claims and allegations.
One of the oft-repeated claims by republicans and indeed
nationalists is that the Unionist community has a huge store
of licensed guns in its possession - guns they claim which
could be used at some time against the minority.
What they are talking about, of course, are the licensed
guns, mostly of the shotgun variety, owned mostly by farmers.
The truth is that these guns are strictly under the control
of the police and licenses are only granted to people of good
character. These licenses can be withdrawn at any time, and
any serious kind of offence resulting court appearance and
conviction would almost certainly lead to the loss of the
license, and the gun.
And another important point is that not all these guns by
any means are owned by Protestants and Unionists. Many Roman
Catholic farmers and sportsmen own shotguns, and it is fairly
safe to say that the proportion of licensed guns in Northern
Ireland held by people of both religions is in keeping with
the proportions of population in the community - roughly 60
per cent Protestant and 40 per cent Roman Catholic.
In fact, the licensed guns issue is no more than a red herring
often used in the past by republicans to distort the real
problem of illegal guns held by the I.R.A. and other paramilitary
organisations in Northern Ireland.
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