§ MR. M. J. FLAVIN (Kerry, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that John H. Danagher applied for a gun licence at the Petty Sessions held in Ballybunion, County Kerry, on 14th August last; and that during the hearing of the application the Resident Magistrate used language impugning the character of applicant; and whether he will cause inquiry to be made into the matter?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURit is a fact that John H. Danagher applied to the Resident Magistrate for a licence to keep a gun and that the application was not acceded to. I have already stated that the granting or withholding an arms licence is vested by law in the Resident Magistrate, who is the licensing officer of the district, and having made inquiry into the facts of the present case I am satisfied that the Resident Magistrate exercised the discretion conferred upon him in this matter in a reasonable manner. When the Resident Magistrate was requested by applicant to give his reason for withholding the licence, he stated it was on account of an outrage committed on the servant of the man who had taken the farm from which applicant had been evicted.