Letter from the Private Secretary, Northern
Ireland Office to the Clerk of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Please find enclosed an advance copy of the
Draft Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 for the information
of the Committee[1].
You should note that officials have just received the Draft from
Legislative Counsel and have yet to complete the checking process.
In addition, there are some small drafting points to be completed
and the final amendments for the Criminal Justice Bill (minimum
sentence for the possession of prohibited firearms etc) are still
to be added.
It is the Minister's intention to lay the Draft
Order in Parliament during week commencing 10 November 2003 as
previously agreed with the Committee and accordingly she would
be grateful to have any further comments from the Committee as
soon as possible.
In the Appendix to this letter is the Government's
response to matters raised in the Committee's Report, which were
not fully covered in its Response to the Committee published on
8 May.
13 October 2003
1 The Draft Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2003
is not published with this series of correspondence. Back
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