Explanatory Note
(This note is not part of the Rules)
These Rules prescribe the forms to be used in connection with the grant of certificates and permits for the purpose of the Firearms Acts 1968 to 1988, and the registration of firearm dealers, and also the form of the register of transactions to be kept by such dealers.
The Rules supersede the Firearms (Scotland) Rules 1969 (as amended by the Firearms (Scotland) Amendment Rules 1983) and the changes of substance are mainly those made to take account of provisions of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988. Rules 3(3)(a), 4(3)(a) and 6 require an application for a firearm or shot gun certificate to be accompanied by a statement from the person verifying the application (who need no longer be a British subject, but must be resident in Great Britain and who may additionally be an established civil servant) to the effect that he knows of no reason why the applicant should not be permitted to possess a firearm. Rules 3(3)(b), 4(3)(b) and 7 require the application to be accompanied by four photographs of the applicant, one of which is to be signed by the applicant and one is to be verified by the person who verifies the application. Rules 3(5) and 4(5) provide for a firearm certificate and a shot gun certificate to bear a photograph of the holder of the certificate.
The prescribed form of shot gun certificate in Schedule 2 to the Rules reflects the new requirement in section 28 of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended by the 1988 Act, that the description of the shot guns to which the certificate relates should be specified in the certificate, and the form contains instructions with which the transferor of a shot gun to the holder of the certificate must comply. The Rules also prescribe the forms to be used in connection with the grant of visitors' firearm and shot gun permits (rule 8).
In addition a single form is now prescribed for applications for the grant or renewal of a shot gun certificate (instead of the two separate forms previously prescribed). The conditions of a firearm certificate prescribed by rule 3(4) now include a revised safe keeping condition for the firearms and ammunition to which the certificate relates, and rule 4(4) prescribes a similar condition for a shot gun certificate to ensure the safe keeping of the shot guns to which the certificate relates.