APPENDIX 1
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC) Recommendations
which require further or final comment from the Government.
1. Provision of a Guidance Document (paragraph
12 of the Report)
The aim is to issue a draft Guidance Document
to interested bodies, including the NIAC, for consultation by
the end of the year.
2. A single regime should govern young people's
access to firearms across the whole of the United Kingdom (paragraph
53 of the Report)
The Home Office intends to conduct a thorough
review of its firearms legislation in the near future and the
harmonisation of the respective controls in relation to young
people will be considered then. In the meantime the Government
has decided that the rninimum age limit at which young people
in Northern Ireland should have access to firearms should remain
at 16 years.
3. Appellate arrangements which will ensure
both a fair and effective appeal system and protection of sensitive
information (paragraph 68 of the Report)
The Government has reconsidered, in consultation
with the Chief Constable, its proposals that firearms appeals
and applications for the removal of statutory prohibition on holding
law. The Home Office has since indicated that it has no objection
to such a change. This has been reflected in the Draft Order.
4. Proposals to ensure that first time firearm
certificate holders do not present a risk to public safety
The Government has dropped its proposal that
the Chief Constable should not grant a firearm certificate unless
he is satisfied that the applicant is competent in the use of
the firearm in question (Article 5(2)(c) of the Draft Order).
It considers that its public safety objectives
in this regard can be more easily and effectively met by giving
the Chief Constable a specific power to add a condition to the
firearm certificate requiring the person, when in possession of
the loaded firearm, to be supervised by a firearm certificate
holder for a specified period. The supervisor would have to be
aged 21 or more and have at least 3 years' experience of the firearm
in question (Article 6(4) and (5) of the current draft).
5. There should be a rigorous and consistent
system of regulation of imitation and replica firearms across
the United Kingdom (paragraph 118)
The Government will consider the offence of
possession of an imitation firearm in a public place without lawful
authority or reasonable excuse, which is contained in the Anti-Social
Behaviour Bill, and, will make similar provision for Northern
Ireland by way of an amendment order.
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