§ Lords amendment: No. 5, in page 4, line 35, after "which" insert "(a)"
§ Mr. Douglas HoggI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Harold Walker)With this we may take Lords amendments Nos. 6, 7 and 8.
§ Mr. HoggThe amendments are designed to meet anxieties expressed by the gun trade and by hon. Members about the operation of the Bill. Some of the amendments to which I shall draw specific attention meet the point about sleeving made by my hon. Friend the Member for Norfolk, North-West (Mr. Bellingham) during our debate on the timetable motion.
Let me explain amendments Nos. 5 and 6. Some self-loading and pump-action shotguns have interchangeable barrels some of which are less than 24 in. long. 1061 Without the amendments, if a previous owner of such a shotgun had at some stage—unknown to the present owner—screwed on a short barrel, that weapon would always be a prohibited weapon, even if the barrel had subsequently been unscrewed and destroyed.
§ Sir Dudley SmithThat is interesting. Is the case that the Minister cites hypothetical, or does the Home Office know of particular instances?
§ Mr. HoggIt is not hypothetical, in the sense that it can clearly happen, although I am not aware of its having happened. My hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington (Sir D. Smith) will appreciate that in America, for example, self-loading or pump-action shotguns are sold with a range of barrels, some of which may be less than 24 in. long. Suppose that a previous owner in the United States had screwed on a short barrel. Even if that short barrel had subsequently been removed, or even destroyed, the present owner would still hold a prohibited weapon. That is nonsense, and the amendments are designed to eliminate it.
Amendments Nos. 7 and 8 are also designed to assist the gun trade and they are entirely reasonable. We are concerned here with two circumstances. The first is the repair of shotguns by re-sleeving. I understand that sometimes a shotgun barrel will be cut down to a small size and another barrel will be grafted on to it as part of the repair process. In the absence of these amendments, such a gun would at one time have a short barrel and could thus be treated as a prohibited—and certainly as a section 1—weapon. The amendment is designed to cover that problem.
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The other circumstance is similar, but not quite the same. The process of converting some rifles to shotguns can involve cutting down the barrel into a stump and grafting a shotgun barrel on to what was a rifle. Under the Bill's original wording, such a gun would remain in its former category and not be treated as a shotgun, which was not the original intention. I hope that the House will accept that the amendments are a positive improvement.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Lords amendments Nos. 6 to 8 agreed to.