FIREARMS
SIR,—May I draw attention to the recent discussion in the House of Lords on privately owned small arms which was notable for the 'admission on behalf of the Home Office that some of the weapons confiscated from individuals are then put into circulation by the Government through com- mercial channels Ile Minister who replied took credit for 'suspending' this administrative abuse: he did not apologise for it. What the more common history of ownership of such weapons may be I ha.ve no idea, but there is one class of owners to whom the Government's contemptuous attitude in demanding their property and subsequent irrespon- sibility in disposing ot it must appear needlessly offensive. Many of us bought personal arms covered by the present ban from private sources a little more than twenty years ago in order to make up for deficiencies, quantitative or qualitative, in the '1098' equipment of our units. We have since been required to 'surrender' these arms without compensation in order to benefit from an 'amnesty.' as if we were terrorists. Consequently when the police refused a firearms certificate for the service automatic which I had bought in 1940 and de- manded its surrender, I, personally, broke up the weapon, piece by piece, in preference to letting it go into circulation with the prospect of the Govern- ment getting the market value which belonged to me and very likely transferring the pistol into less reliable hands.
It is a somewhat ironic though fortuitous coin- cidence that the Minister responsible for the gross maladministration which he has now 'suspended' was a member of the successive governments whose improvidence was one reason for our *pending our pay on our own arms. Understandably enough, I hope, the boon of an 'amnesty' under these auspices for the offence of neglecting the consequences of one's initiative does not arouse the feelings of humility and gratitude which the portentous terms of the offer seem to presume. One might imagine Mr. Butler waiting to put us to the sword if we do not cry 'quarter' and hand him some more toys to hawk among the gunsmiths.
Trinity College, Cambridge
MICHAEL VYVYAN
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