5
473
5. The provisions of para. 5 of the Bill are by no means clear and want
defining. Under its provisions-
(4) A man carrying a revolver in his belt ready loaded;
(b) A coolie carrying a revolver in a case from one shop to
another or to a customer, or for repairs;
(e) A Chinaman from the mainland who has bought a dozen
rounds of ammunition or a box of caps,
are all in the same position and all equally need a licence to carry or possess.
6. Under section 6 sub-section (5), if a non-resident foreigner or Chinese wants to buy even a box of caps to take on board his ship or junk and not for use in the Colony the Vendor must obtain an export permit before he can supply what is wanted.
Why should not the purchaser, if any one, obtain this export permit? But as already pointed out any attempt seriously to enforce this rule will kill the retail trade in the Colony most effectually, and will not prevent one single bad character who wants to purchase weapons from providing himself with them.
7. Section 7 requires a Chinaman from the mainland who comes here one day in a junk and returns the next day and who buys a box of cups to take with him to his home to get an export permit and then when he gets on board bis junk to deliver the caps to the custody of the master or mate of the junk and must return the receipt and the permit to some Officer of the Government. The clause is im- practicable and can properly only affect wholesale dealers. There is no provision in the Ordinance providing for the case of a man who buys a weapon in the Colony for the sole purpose of taking it out of the Colony for use in his own home.
8. Clause 8 is far too wide. It affects every person---wholesale dealer, retail dealer, person privileged or licensed--to carry arms-every one. No Member of Council can send his fowling piece to the gunsmith's to be cleaned or repaired, without a removal permit.
9. With reference to clause 10 it should be so modified so that in the case of a person suspected of carrying arms he should be taken at once before an Inspector and searched, so that, if the suspicion was unfounded he might at once be discharged from custody, otherwise a perfectly innocent man might be detained from Saturday till Monday.
"met
10. The Captain Superintendent of Police should not be the person to grant or refuse licences to Dealers and Importers. Such licences should be granted by the Colonial Secretary. And there should be two classes of Licences--one for Importers and Wholesale Dealers, and one for Retail Dealers.
11. The amount of the Fee payable has already been discussed.
12. There should be no power to cancel any licence once issued, except for breach of the conditions on which the licence was issued,
or of some provision of the law, and after conviction. Any refusal
to grant a licence shoud be subject to appeal, the applicant being entitled to have in writing the reasons for the refusal.
All arms and ammunition being conveyed from any part of the Colony to another, unless acompanied by a licensed person or with a certifi-
cate from the owner--a privileged person, a licensed person, a licensed Wholesale Dealer, or a licensed Retail Dealer,-giving the name of the owner, the quantity and kind of arms or ammunition conveyed, and the destination; otherwise arins liable to be forfeited, and the bearer if unable to account for his possession punishable.
Removal permits impracticable. Think of a removal permit being required to enable a man to get a packet of cartridges conveyed by a coolie from a store to his house.
The requirement of a certificate will render boxes and labels unnecessary, Section 20 should be so modified as to authorize any Police Constable to convey any suspected person to a Station there to have his box or package opened and searched.
Section 22 requires nodification to provide for the case of European passengers of standing and position, persons licensed or privileged to carry arms in Hongkong from being exposed to have their persons examined and their baggage searched for arms. It puts it in the power of a disagreeable ship's captain to grossly insult and annoy a passen- ger against whom he had any ill-feeling. It is too big a power to give any man, especially when coupled with the power to arrest. is given to all masters of all vessels of any nationality, even Chinese janks, and might be used to deprive passengers of the means of self-defence and to leave them at the mercy of pirates.
It wants very striel limitation,
It
Appeal fro