§ 112. Sir R. Youngasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the police authorities can now issue permission for certificates to be given on application to persons who wish to own revolvers for their personal needs; and whether it is intended to return the pistols to those dispossessed of them by the refusal to renew certificates two or three years ago or whether the value of surrendered pistols is to be made good.
§ Mr. EdeAnyone who considers that he has a good reason for possessing a firearm can at any time apply to the appropriate chief officer of police for a firearm certificate and, if a certificate is refused, he can appeal to the Quarter Sessions. The application will fall to be dealt with in the light of the circumstances of the case but, for my part, I could not regard the plea that a revolver is wanted for the protection of an applicant's person or property as necessarily justifying the issue of a firearm certificate. There can be no question of compensation being paid from police funds in any case in which a person is unable to dispose of a firearm for which he is unable to obtain a firearm certificate in accordance with the law.