Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988

Shot guns

3Grant and renewal of shot gun certificates

(1)For section 28(1) of the principal Act (criteria for grant of shot gun certificates) there shall be substituted—

“(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.

(1A)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.

(1B)For the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (1A) 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.”

4Transfers of shot guns

(1)This section applies where a person—

(a)sells, lets on hire or gives a shot gun; or

(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.

(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.

5Restriction on sale of ammunition for smooth-bore guns

(1)This section applies to ammunition to which section 1 of the principal Act does not apply and which is capable of being used in a shot gun or in a smooth-bore gun to which that section applies.

(2)It is an offence for a person to sell any such ammunition to another person in the United Kingdom who is neither a registered firearms dealer nor a person who sells such ammunition by way of trade or business unless that other person—

(a)produces a certificate authorising him to possess a gun of a kind mentioned in subsection (1) above; or

(b)shows that he is by virtue of that Act or this Act entitled to have possession of such a gun without holding a certificate; or

(c)produces a certificate authorising another person to possess such a gun, together with that person’s written authority to purchase the ammunition on his behalf.

(3)An offence under this section 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.