1Amendments as to firearms certificates
(1)An application for the grant or renewal of a certificate under section one of the principal Act shall be made to the chief officer of police for the area in which the applicant resides in such form as may be prescribed by rules made under section fifteen of that Act, and shall state such particulars as may be required by the said form.
(2)Subject to the provisions of this Act and proviso (b) to subsection (2) of section one of the principal Act, there shall be payable on the grant of a certificate a fee of five shillings, and on the renewal of a certificate, or on any variation of a certificate which increases the number of firearms to which the certificate relates, or on the replacement of a certificate which has been lost or destroyed, a fee of two shillings and sixpence :
Provided that, where a certificate is varied as aforesaid and renewed or replaced at the same time, no fee shall be payable on the variation.
(3)No fee shall be payable on the grant, variation or renewal of a certificate if the chief officer of police is satisfied that the certificate relates solely to and, in the case of a variation, will continue when varied to relate solely to—
(a)a firearm or ammunition which the applicant requires as part of the equipment of a ship; or
(b)a signalling apparatus, or ammunition therefor, which the applicant requires as part of the equipment of an aircraft or aerodrome; or
(c)a slaughtering instrument, or ammunition therefor, which the applicant requires for the purpose of the slaughter of animals.
(4)No fee shall be payable on the grant or renewal of a certificate relating solely to a firearm which is shown to the satisfaction of the chief officer of police to be kept by the applicant as a trophy of a war, or on any variation of a certificate the sole effect of which is to add such a firearm as aforesaid to the firearms to which the certificate relates, if the certificate is granted, renewed or varied subject to the condition that the applicant shall not use the firearm.
(5)Every certificate shall specify, in addition to the matters mentioned in subsection (3) of section one of the principal Act, the conditions (if any) subject to which it is held, and. the chief officer of police for the area in which the holder resides may at any time by notice in writing vary those conditions, except such of them as may be prescribed, and may by the notice require the holder to deliver up the certificate to him within twenty-one days from the date of the notice for the purpose of amending the conditions specified therein, and if the holder fails to comply with that requirement the officer may revoke the certificate.
(6)No offence under section one of the principal Act shall be deemed to be committed—
(a)in the case of any person—
(i)by having in his possession a firearm or ammunition on board a ship, or a signalling apparatus or ammunition therefor on board an aircraft or at an aerodrome, as part of the equipment of the ship or aircraft or aerodrome; or
(ii)by removing a signalling apparatus or ammunition therefor, being part of the equipment of an aircraft, from one aircraft to another at an aerodrome, or from or to an aircraft at an aerodrome to or from a place appointed for the storage thereof in safe custody at that aerodrome, or by keeping any such apparatus or ammunition at such a place; or
(iii)if he has obtained from an officer of police a permit for the purpose in the prescribed form, by removing a firearm from or to a ship, or a signalling apparatus from or to an aircraft or aerodrome, to or from such place and for such purpose as may be specified in the permit; or
(b)in the case of a person licensed under section three of the [23 & 24 Geo. 5. c. 39.] Slaughter of Animals Act, 1933, by having in his possession a slaughtering instrument and ammunition therefor in any slaughter house or knacker's yard in which he is employed, or in the case of the proprietor of a slaughter house or knacker's yard, or a person appointed by him to take charge of slaughtering instruments and ammunition therefor for the purpose of storing them in safe custody at that slaughter house or knacker's yard, by having in his possession a slaughtering instrument or ammunition therefor for that purpose; or
(c)in the case of a person taking part in a theatrical performance or any rehearsal thereof, or in the production of a cinematograph film, by having in his possession a firearm during and for the purpose of the performance, rehearsal or production; or
(d)in the case of any person, by having in his possession a firearm at an athletic meeting for the purpose of starting races at that meeting; or
(e)in the case of a person who has obtained from the chief officer of police for the area in which he resides a permit for the purpose in the prescribed form, by having in his possession a firearm or ammunition in accordance with the terms of the permit.
(7)Paragraphs (d), (h) and (j) of the proviso to subsection (8) of section one of the principal Act, and the First Schedule to that Act, shall cease to have effect.
(8)Subsection (2) of section thirteen of the principal Act, and any dispensation thereunder granted before the commencement of this Act, shall cease to have effect at the expiration of three months from the commencement of this Act, and no such dispensation shall be granted after the commencement of this Act.
(9)In this section the expression " certificate" means a firearm certificate.