Firearms (Amendment) Act - legislation

1 Firearms ( amendment ) Act 1988 CHAPTER 45 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS Specially dangerous weapons Section I. Prohibited weapons and ammunition. Weapons requiring firearm cert(ficate 2. Re-definition of exempted shot guns. Shot guns 3. Grant and renewal of shot gun certificates. 4. Transfers of shot guns. 5. Restriction on sale of ammunition for smooth-bore guns. Converted and de-activated weapons 6. Shortening of barrels. 7. Conversion not to affectclassification. 8. De-activated weapons. firearm and shot gun certificates 9. Photographs on certificates. 10. Statements in support of applications for certificates. 11. Grant of co-terminous certificates. 12. Revocation of certificates. Firearms dealers and other businesses 13. Firearms dealers. 14. Auctioneers, carriers and warehousemen. Exemptions 15.)

2 Rifle and pistol clubs. 16. Borrowed rifles on private premises. c. 45 Firearms ( amendment ) Act 1988 Section 17. Visitors' permits. 18. Firearms acquired for export. 19. Firearms and ammunition in museums. Miscellaneous and supplementary 20. Removal of arms and ammunition to Northern Ireland. 21. Payments in respect of prohibited weapons. 22. Firearms consultative committee. 23. Minor and consequential amendments and repeals. 24. Expenses and receipts. 25. Interpretation and supplementary provisions. 26. Corresponding provisions for Northern Ireland. 27. Short title, citation, commencement and extent. SCHEDULE: Firearms and Ammunition in Museums. ELIZABETH II c. 45 Firearms ( amendment ) Act 1988 1988 CHAPTER 45 An Act to amend the Firearms Act 1968 and to make further provision for regulating the possession of, and transactions relating to, Firearms and ammunition.

3 [15th November 1988 ] B E IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: Specially dangerous weapons 1. (l) Section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 (in this Act referred to as Prohibited "the principal Act") shall have effect with the following amendments the weapons and purpose of which is to extend the class of prohibited weapons and ammunition. ammunition, that is to say weapons and ammunition the possession, 1968 C. 27. purchase, acquisition, manufacture, sale or transfer of which requires the authority of the Secretary of State. (2) For paragraph (a) of subsection (I) there shall be substituted "(a) any firearm which is so designed or adapted that two or more missiles can be successively discharged without repeated pressure on the trigger; (ab) any self-loading or pump-action rifle other than one which is chambered for.

4 22 rim-fire cartridges; (ac) any self-loading or pump-action smooth-bore gun which is not chambered for .22 rim-fire cartridges and either has a barrel less than 24 inches in length or (excluding any detachable, folding, retractable or other movable butt- stock) is less than 40 inches in length overall; (ad) any smooth-bore revolver gun other than one which is chambered for 9mm. rim-fire cartridges or loaded at the muzzle end of each chamber; 2 c. 45 Firearms ( amendment ) Act 1988 (ae) any rocket launcher, or any mortar, for projecting a stabilised missile, other than a launcher or mortar designed for line-throwing or pyrotechnic purposes or as signalling apparatus;". (3) For paragraph (c) of subsection (I) there shall be substituted "(c) any cartridge with a bullet designed to explode on or immediately before impact, any ammunition containing or designed or adapted to contain any such noxious thing as is mentioned in paragraph (b) above and, if capable of being used with a firearm of any description, grenade, bomb (or other like missile), or rocket or shell designed to explode as aforesaid.

5 " (4) If it appears to the Secretary of State that the provisions of the principal Act relating to prohibited weapons r ammunition should apply to- (a) any firearm (not being an air weapon) which is not for the time being specified in subsection (1) of section 5, was not lawfully on sale in Great Britain in substantial numbers at any time before 1988 and appears to him to be (i) specially dangerous; or (ii) wholly or partly composed of material making it not readily detectable by apparatus used for detecting metal objects; or (b) any ammunition which is not for the time being specified in that subsection but appears to him to be specially dangerous, he may by order add it to the weapons or ammunition specified in that subsection whether by altering the description of any weapon or ammunition for the time being there specified or otherwise.

6 (5) The power to make an order under subsection (4) above shall be exercisable by statutory instrument and no such order shall be made unless a draft of it has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament. Weapons requiring firearm certificate Re-definition of 2. (l) Section 1 of the principal Act shall have effect with the exempted shot following amendments the purpose of which is to require a firearm guns. certificate for certain types of shot gun. (2) For paragraph (a) of subsection (3) (which exempts shot guns with barrels not less than 24 inches in length) there shall be substituted "(a) a shot gun within the meaning of this Act, that is to say a smooth-bore gun (not being an air gun) which (i) has a barrel not less than 24 inches in length and does not have any barrel with a bore exceeding 2 inches in diameter; (ii) either has no magazine or has a non-detachable magazine incapable of holding more than two cartridges; and (iii) is not a revolver gun; and".

7 (3) After subsection (3) there shall be inserted Firearms ( amendment ) Act 1988 c. 45 3 "(3A) A gun which has been adapted to have such a magazine as is mentioned in subsection (3)(a)(ii) above shall not be regarded as falling within that provision unless the magazine bears a mark approved by the Secretary of State for denoting that fact and that mark has been made, and the adaptation has been certified in writing as having been carried out in a manner approved by him, either by one of the two companies mentioned in section 58(1) of this Act or by such other person as may be approved by him for that purpose." Shotguns 3. ( 1) For section 28(1) of the principal Act (criteria for grant of shot Grant and gun certificates) there shall be substituted renewal of shot gun certificates. "(1) Subject to subsection (1A) below, a shot gun certificate shall be granted or, as the case may be, renewed by the chief officer of police if he is satisfied that the applicant can be permitted to possess a shot gun without danger to the public safety or to the peace.

8 (IA) No such certificate shall be granted or renewed if the chief officer of police (a) has reason to believe that the applicant is prohibited by this Act from possessing a shot gun; or (b) is satisfied that the applicant does not have a good reason for possessing, purchasing or acquiring one. (1 B) For the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (1 A) above an applicant shall, in particular, be regarded as having a good reason if the gun is intended to be used for sporting or competition purposes or for shooting vermin; and an application shall not be refused by virtue of that paragraph merely because the applicant intends neither to use the gun himself nor to lend it for anyone else to use." (2) After section 28(2) of the principal Act (form and contents of shot gun certificates) there shall be inserted "(2A) A shot gun certificate shall specify the description of the shot guns to which it relates including, if known, the identification numbers of the guns.

9 " 4. ( I) This section applies where a person Transfers of shot (a) sells, lets on hire or gives a shot gun; or guns. (b) lends a shot gun for a period of more than seventy-two hours, to another person in the United Kingdom who is neither a registered Firearms dealer nor a person who shows that he is by virtue of the principal Act or this Act entitled to purchase or acquire the shot gun without holding a shot gun certificate. (2) The transferor shall (a) comply with any instructions contained in the certificate produced by the transferee; and (b) within seven days of the transaction send a notice of the transaction to the chief officer of police who issued the transferor's certificate or, if he is by virtue of the principal Act or this Act entitled to be in possession of the shot gun without holding a certificate, to the chief officer of police who issued the transferee's certificate.

10 4 c. 45 Firearms ( amendment ) Act 1988 (3) The transferee shall, within seven days of the transaction, send a notice of the transaction to the chief officer of police who issued his certificate. (4) The notice of a transaction under subsection (2) or (3) above shall contain a description of the shot gun in question (giving the identification number if any) and state the nature of the transaction and the name and address of the other person concerned; and any such notice shall be sent by registered post or the recorded delivery service. (5) It is an offence to fail to comply with this section and that offence shall be punishable on summary conviction with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or both. Restriction on sale 5. (l) This section applies to ammunition to which section 1 of the of ammunition principal Act does not apply and which is capable of being used in a shot for smooth-bore gun or in a smooth-bore gun to which that section applies.