40.— Section 12A of the Act of 1990 is amended—

(a) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (9):

“(9A) The purpose of subsections (10) and (11) is to provide that in view of the harm caused to society by the unlawful possession and use of firearms, a court, in imposing sentence on a person (other than a person under the age of 18 years) for an offence under this section, shall specify as the minimum term of imprisonment to be served by the person a term of not less than 5 years, unless the court determines that by reason of exceptional and specific circumstances relating to the offence, or the person convicted of it, it would be unjust in all the circumstances to do so.”,

(b) in subsection (10), by the insertion of “, subject to subsection (11),” after “and for this purpose the court may”, and

(c) in subsection (13)(b), by the insertion of “27” after “section 26,”.