§ MR. FLETCHERasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether his attention has been called, to a Letter in the newspapers, signed by the Supervisor of Inland Revenue, Durham, in reference to the liability of members of the Volunteer Force to pay the Gun Tax under certain circumstances, in which Letter it is stated,—
As the case named is a competition for prizes, all the competitors, whether Volunteers or not, should hold Licences to use and carry their Guns, otherwise they will be liable to forfeit the penalty of £10 imposed by the Act for carrying a Gun, without a Licence;and if, in his opinion, this is a correct interpretation of the meaning and intention of the Gun Licences Act?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERSir, the competitors who are not Volunteers are undoubtedly bound to take out a gun licence; but those who are Volunteers are, in my opinion, not bound to take out such licence. The law exempts Volunteers using their guns, among other things, for target practice; and these competitions have always been held by the Inland Revenue Department, since the Act was passed, to come under the head of target practice. Therefore, the Volunteers ought not to be called upon to take out a gun licence. The letter referred to was written by the Supervisor at Durham without any authority, and a remonstrance has been addressed to him on the subject.