If you search on the internet about guns in Northern Ireland, it says that nobody is allowed to have a handgun except for the police and half a dozen high-profile politicians (for their self-defense).

But then you go to a gun club in N. Ireland and you find out that anyone who's been in the club for about a year can apply for a firearms certificate, and if it's approved then they can take guns home (but they need to have a safe in their car and also in their house).

For the time being, I can get my club to order in a Ruger GP100 .22LR for me, and it will stay in the safe at the gun club and I won't be allowed to bring it home til I get a firearms certificate. Until I get a certificate, I can practise with it at the range, but I can't bring it home til I get the cert.