FIREARMS ACT 1968 (AMENDMENT) (Hansard, 17 November 1976)

§ Mr. Marcus Kimball (Gainsborough)

I beg to move. That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the Firearms Act 1968 with respect to the duration of firearm certificates and shotgun certificates. I am seeking to introduce this Bill to get the Government out of a serious difficulty in which they find themselves. Lord Harris wrote to me on 15th October saying: The Home Secretary has at present no power to do this under the 1968 Act". If the Government will accept the Bill and facilitate its passage, they can meet the principal objection of most holders of firearm and shotgun certificates to the substantial increase in fees which they now face.

I remind the House that in 1969 a firearm and shotgun certificate cost 5s. It was raised to £2 10s. at the end of 1969. It was increased to £3 10s. in 1971, and in 1975 it was increased to £7. In October the Government laid an order increasing the fee for the granting of a firearm certificate to £12—an increase of 151 per cent, in the last four years—for the renewal of a firearm certificate from £4.50 to £10, and all other firearm and shotgun fees in proportion.

I am in no way asking for any form of subsidy. The fact that my hon. Friend the Member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (Mr. Ridley) has signed his name on the back of my Bill in support of it must convince the House that there is no question of the sporting community asking that their firearm and shotgun certificates should be subsidised in any way.

We accept the argument that the scheme should be self-financing. I am glad that the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department is in her place. I think that the hon. Lady and the House are aware that the Long Room Committee, on which all users of shotguns and firearms are represented, under the chairmanship of my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough (Mr. Farr), has expressed grave doubts about the way that police costs are made up. We have seen references in Hansard to police 1386 costs of over £50 for checking the renewal of one firearm certificate in the Greater London area. Many of the owners and users of firearms question the extent of the checking which seems to be necessary and the amount of police time which is now spent on it. Many perfectly honourable and honest citizens, when they come to renew their certificates for sound sporting reasons, find themselves subject to a whole host of questions and inquiries which they feel are a waste of police time.

It has been estimated that these new fees put a burden of over £1 million on the sporting community. I fear that the expenses now—£12 for a firearm certificate—will put a premium on having an unlicensed weapon in one's possession. I am sure the House does not want that.

If we double the fee, the only way to reduce the cost to the individual is to double the time for which the certificate is issued. That is what this simple Bill would do. It seeks to extend the period from three years to six years for the granting of these certificates. A driving licence is far more lethal than a shotgun certificate. For the total sum of £5, one has a licence to slaughter on the roads until one is senile or dies.

We are asking the Government to follow up the sympathy they have expressed about this problem by facilitating the passage of the Bill or by giving an undertaking that, when the Criminal Justice Amendment Bill comes before this House in the next Session, they will at least agree to extend the period for shotgun and firearm certificates.