THE ARMS ACT.

Northern Advocate, 30 January 1922, Page 8

THE ARMS ACT.

AMENDING BILL INTRODUCED. MINOR CHANGES IN THE LAW. Various minor Amendments to the Arms Act of last year are contained in an amending Bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Friday.

The Minister of Defence is authorised to grant a license permitting any person who served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force or a near relative to retain possession of unlawful weapons which have been used overseas during the war or brought from overseas. The Bill proposes to widen this so that any person who has served in His Majesty's forces in any war may be given a similar license, while the Minister is to be given discretion to grant such a license to any person he may think fit.

Under the present law a licensed dealer does not require a special permit to purchase or otherwise obtain a firearm. The Bill proposes that licensed dealers shall still be free to import firearms, ammunition, or explosives, .but shall require a permit to purchase or obtain them within New Zealand. However, general permits are to be given to licensed .dealers. The permit to purchase given to a private individual lasts only for six days. The permits to purchase within New Zealand to be given to licensed dealers are to last for the same term as the license, or for a term to be specified in the permit.

Where explosives are to be used for mining, quarrying, tunnelling, or excavating, the person in charge of the work is to have a permit to obtain them, but the workmen using them will not be required to have a permit to obtain supplies. The holder of the peimit, however, is to keep a rccord of the explosives he issues for the work in hand. The term of the permit is to be that specified in it, or it is to last during the continuance of the work for tfhteh it is^issued. Defence rifle clubs approved by the Commissioner of Police are to be authorised to obtain from the Minister of Defence, without permit, ammunition for the use of their members on rifle ranges. They must not supply it to any other persons, and must keep a record of that issued.

The present Act allows any person to be in possession of a firearm for one month without registering. That term is to be reduced to seven days. The Commissioner of Police is to be empowered t>v regulation to issue gazette notices making it lawful for ammunition for sporting rifles of a calibre not exceeding .22 to be obtained without permit. It is also to be enacted that the provisions of the principal Act may by Order-in-Council be made to apply to «uns or pistols of any calibre which are not firearms Thus the requirements of the principal Act may be applied to air guns.