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Lords Amendment No. 3: In page 4, line 3, leave out from beginning to "certificate" in line 5 and insert:
varied or revoked during the currency of a".
§ Mr. George ThomasI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
Subsection (1) of Clause 8 authorises the chief officer of police at any time to impose conditions of registration in the case of firearms dealers and to vary or revoke any conditions either of his own motion or on the application of the dealer. The Amendment is designed to ensure that notice is required only where the condition is imposed, varied, or revoked during the currency of a certificate.
§ Question put and agreed to.
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Lords Amendment No. 4: In page 4, leave out line 14 and insert:
remove from the register either that person's name or any place of business of his to which that condition relates".
§ Mr. George ThomasI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
May we have your permission, Mr. Deputy-Speaker, and that of the House, to consider with this Amendment the Lords Amendment No. 6?
§ Mr. ThomasThe first of these Amendments enables a chief officer of police, in cases where a firearms dealer fails to comply with a condition of registration, to remove from the register the place of business to which that condition relates. The chief officer of police also has power to remove from the register the name of the firearms dealer who fails to comply with a condition of registration, and this may be unduly severe as he may have a number of shops and the offence may relate merely to one.
The purpose of the first Amendment is to ensure that the chief officer of police has discretion to remove the dealer's name and also, power to remove a place of business. This is much fairer for the dealer.
§ Question put and agreed to.
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Lords Amendment No. 5: In page 4, line 19, leave out from "and" to end of line 22 and insert:
the appeal shall lie to the court of quarter sessions (or, in Scotland, to the sheriff) within whose jurisdiction there is situated the appellant's place of business in respect of which the condition is in force".
§ Mr. George ThomasI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
No great issue of principle arises here. The purpose of the Amendment is to improve the drafting.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Subsequent Lords Amendment agreed to.