§ Clause 25, page 11, line 10, leave out ("is in insert possession of") and insert ("has used").
§ Clause 25, page 11, line 12, leave out from ("Act") to ("that") in line 13.
§ Clause 25, page 11, line 21, leave out ("is in possession of")and insert ("has used").
§ Clause 25, page 11, line 24, leave out from beginning to ("that").
§ LORD FORBESMy Lords, with your Lordships' permission, I will take together Amendments 36, 37, 38 and 39. As Clause 25 stands at present, people could be charged with unlawful possession of firearms or ammunition on suspicion that they had intended to commit offences. We thought that this might lead to unjustifiable interference with innocent persons carrying, say, shotguns for legitimate purposes. The Amendments limit the possibility of charges being brought under the clause to cases where a person has actually used the firearm or the ammunition to commit an offence. It will not be possible to charge a person merely on the suspicion that he has intended to commit an offence. I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.—(Lord Forbes.)
§ VISCOUNT ASTORMy Lords, again I think it is a most unsatisfactory Amendment. If a person is found strolling along in a deer forest armed, whether he has fired his shotgun or not, it is difficult to imagine that he has taken the firearm with him for personal protection against 360 attacks from seagulls. He could have been there only for a very obvious nefarious purpose. I think that this is a serious weakening of the Act and a regrettable one.
§ LORD FORBESMy Lords, has the noble Viscount thought of the possibility of a trapper with a gun on the moor?
§ VISCOUNT ASTORMy Lords, yes, indeed; but we expect that the courts in Scotland are presided over by reasonable people who, if there is a reasonable defence, are not going to convict.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.