A former Fine Gael TD for Waterford has expressed his concerns about the number of legally held handguns in Irish society.
John Deasy said that members of the Dáil are in the dark about gun licensing and that handgun culture is beginning to emerge in Ireland.
Speaking to RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Mr Deasy said there had been a handgun ban in the State since the 1970s but that due to legal action, the law was loosened and by 2008 there were 1,800 handguns in the general population.
He said members of the Dáil do not have any information about the guns out there, where they are, who is getting them and who is giving out licenses.
Mr Deasy said the State needed to look at what happened in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York and look at what Ireland has gotten right in our society compared to the US.
He said: "Thousands of mass shootings in America should explain that, to keep [guns] out of the hands of the general population.
"When you arm them things change quickly, young men settling differences with gun rather than fists, and gardaí get killed as they are unarmed."
Mr Deasy added: "The numbers are very large and there needs to be a ban on any new licences and new renewals until the Dáil gets complete data on what’s out there and that’s critical as they don’t have that information."
In a statement, the Department of Justice said it has "made a commitment to undertake a comprehensive review to modernise legislation, including a registration of dealers and inspections".
It said a firearms expert committee has been established, which will carry out an assessment to modernise the legislation "including all types of firearms under current use under existing system".
The committee will also make recommendations on which type of firearms should be licenced in Ireland.
