Legalities
From 14 July 2014 persons prohibited from possessing firearms under section 21 (including those with suspended sentences) will also be unable to possess antique firearms
From 14 July 2014 persons prohibited from possessing firearms under section 21 (including those with suspended sentences) will also be unable to possess antique firearms
- Subsection (2) amends section 58(2) of the Firearms Act 1968. Section 58(2) allows antique firearms to be possessed without a certificate as a “curiosity or ornament”. Subsection (2) ensures that persons prohibited from possessing firearms under section 21 (including those with suspended sentences) will now be unable to possess antique firearms.
- This means that if a person is a prohibited person on 14 July 2014 then they cannot possess an antique firearm.
- A permanently prohibited person is someone who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of more than three years. A prohibited person is someone who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment, or received a suspended sentence, of between three months and three years and has been prohibited from possessing firearms for a period of five years.
- The word “antique” is not defined in the Act and it is for the chief officer of police and for the courts to consider each case on its merits. Further guidance can be found in the Home Office Guide to Firearms Licensing Law paragraph 8.3.
- A prohibited person who lawfully possesses an antique firearm before the commencement of these powers will need to dispose of their firearm by 14 July 2014. Disposal could include:
- sell the firearm;
- surrender the firearm at a police station;
- take firearm to a registered firearms dealer;
- pass possession of the firearm to someone else who is lawfully entitled to possess it.
- Possession of a firearm and ammunition during a period of prohibition is an offence under section 21(4) of the Firearms Act 1968 and attracts a maximum sentence of five years. This includes an antique firearm.
- A person prohibited from possessing a firearm and ammunition may apply to the Crown Court or, in Scotland in accordance with Act of Sederunt to the sheriff, for the removal of the prohibition under section 21(6) of the Firearms Act 1968.