Provisional Irish Republican Army arms importation in forms of both firearms and explosives began in the early s during the Troubles. With these weapons it conducted an armed campaign against the British state in Northern Ireland.
To continue and escalate its armed campaign, the IRA needed to be better equipped, which meant securing modern small arms. In previous campaigns weapons had been secured before hostilities commenced via raids on British Army and even Irish Army weapons depots. In the β period this was no longer feasible. The AR rifle in particular was found to be particularly well suited for urban guerilla warfare as its small size and folding stock made it easy to conceal.
Moreover, it was capable of rapid fire and fired a high velocity round which provided high stopping power. Harrison had set up a gunrunning network in America since the s when he supplied arms in the β Border campaign.
Again, the purchase of these weapons was funded by Irish American republicans. National Guard armory was imported in By , the Justice Department started to significantly weaken the Harrison network by prosecuting dozens of IRA arms trafficking cases, and as early as , the IRA already found more lucrative sources of funding and weapons from foreign states, including Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Most notable and significant to date was the recent conviction in Baltimore , Maryland , of five IRA "gunrunners" charged with 23 violation counts of the Gun Control Act including using fictitious names, counterfeiting federal firearms licenses and illegally transporting firearms and explosive devices across state lines.
