HOME GUARD RIFLES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 152, 9 April 1941, Page 4

HOME GUARD RIFLES.

SEVENTEEN HANDED OVER. RETENTION BY THE® OWNERS. The question of the retention of pri-vately-owned rifles handed in to the police for the use of the Home Guard was referred to Senior-Sergeant J. F. Cleary to-day by a .“Guardian” reporter. It had been stated that owners of rifles, many of them keen sportsmen who do a fair amount of deer shooting during the season, were anxious to retain the use of their rifles for backcountry shooting when they were not being used for drill purposes by the Home Guard.

Senior-Sergeant Cleary stated that tho owner’s title in his rifle remained with him. The rifle should bo taken to the Police Station, together with the registration certificate, and special forms are filled in. The rifles are loaned to the Home Guard to overcome the temporary shortage of weapons for drill purposes. The rifle was handed over to the; Home- Guard and the owner could thereafter use it- himself or have a member of the Home Guard nominated to whom the rifle could be handed. It was the opinion that there was nothing to prevent a member of the Home Guard taking his rifle home with him after parades and using it between parades, though it was to be understood that it would be available for all Home Guard purposes as required. This retention of the rifle was, however, a matter of discipline in the Home Guard itself; iv

»So far, 17 rifles, one of them equipped with a bayonet, had been handed in at the Police Station and transferred to the Home Guard.

LONGBEACH UNIT TRAINING. The training of the Longbeach Home Guard was advanced a stage on Saturday, when the company parade was hold* at Longbeach. Mr J. H. Grigg was in command and Mr J. R. Wilkie, of Ashburton, supervised instruction. After platoon and section drill firing practices were carried out and a start was made on field work and extended order drill under section leaders. Rifle exercises were also taken.

The next company parade will be held at the Eiffelton 4 'School on Saturday, April 19, while platoon parades will be held in the platoon districts on nights previously arranged.