A Newstalk investigation has found that firearms are being advertised on Facebook Ireland – in breach of the social media giant’s own policies.

In April of this year, an Irish Facebook user took to Twitter to highlight an ad for a gun that appeared in his feed.

At the time, Facebook’s parent company Meta told Newstalk that ads of this nature were in breach of its ad policies and took them down; however, they have since reappeared intermittently and were active on the site as recently as lunchtime today.

Screenshots of firearm ads. Image: Newstalk

After learning of the ad, Newstalk’s Technology Correspondent Jess Kelly tracked down the company in question and managed to purchase a firearm from the website.

Six weeks later, a surprising delivery arrived.

On Moncrieff this afternoon, Jess explained what happened.

“I found the website in question and, instantly, the currency box in the corner appeared in Euro,” she said.

“There were no questions asked regarding age, identification, certification, or licencing. I was prompted by the website to pay via PayPal and received a confirmation email within minutes.”

The website in question disappeared in the days following the order; however, when contacted via the PayPal Dispute Resolution Centre, the retailer replied to say that the order was in progress.

The firearm eventually arrived at the Newstalk offices in an A5 bubble envelope – with no box, instructions, or details.

"It was just a gun in a plastic bag, inside an envelope that had the normal courier tracking label you’d expect if you’d bought trainers online," said Jess.

"I was quite shaken that it arrived like this, in such a casual manner. We called the Gardaí, who sent a detective here to Marconi House to take the device in for examination."

The gun was advertised as being a .22 calibre, concealed, self-defence device.

Gardaí are now carrying out tests.

A package containing a sophisticated imitation firearm that arrived at the Newstalk studios. Image: Newstalk

When told by Newstalk that ads of this nature were appearing on its platform and being directed at Irish users, a spokesperson for Facebook parent Meta said: “Regardless of location, the sale of weapons and ammunition is against our ad policies.”

In a statement, An Garda Síochána said: “As you are aware, this matter was reported to An Garda Síochána […] members of An Garda Síochána attended the offices of Newstalk and retrieved the item.”

“An investigation is now being conducted by An Garda Síochána into this matter. An Garda Síochána is not in a position to comment further at this time.”

The firearm that arrived at the Newstalk studios. Image: Newstalk

Under Irish law, it is an offence to possess any firearm without a valid licence – which you can only obtain for specific purposes.

The legislation was amended in the early '90s to include “any realistic imitation firearm” without a licence.

Jess reached out to customs to get some insight into its detection processes when it comes to firearms.

A Revenue spokesperson said it, “deploys a risk-based approach in its detection and intervention strategy and collaborates with a range of national and international law enforcement partners in doing so”.

“Revenue enforcement teams operate at all main ports, airports, and mail centres, as well as freight forwarding premises, and use a variety of resources such as Detector Dog teams, x-ray scanners and physical examinations in their work,” they said.

Customs

Revenue said it liaises with National Licensing Authorities on an ongoing basis in terms of the detection of firearms; however, “we will not be providing further comment on these procedures for operational and security reasons”.

A Garda spokesperson said the gun has been "subjected to examination and is currently subject to Garda investigation".

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