Firearms Act 1813
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
(53 Geo. 3) C A P. CXV
[10th July 1813]
'WHEREAS serious Injuries are frequently sustained by Persons using Guns, Fowling Piece, Blunderbusses, Pistols and other Fire Arms, from the bursting thereof, in consequence of the Barrels of such Guns, Fowling Pieces, Blunderbusses, Pistols and Fire Arms, not having been sufficiently proved; and it is therefore expedient that the Manufacturers of Fire Arms should be compelled to prove the same at some Place appropriated for that Purpose as a Public Proof House: And whereas great Quantities of Fire Arms and Barrels for Fire Arms are manufactured in the Town ofBirmingham and the Vicinity thereof, and it would tend to the Safety and Security of the Public if a Proof House for Fire Arms, under proper Superintendance and Inspection, were to be established in or near the said Town:' May it therefore please Your Majesty, that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That, from and after the Expiration of Three Weeks from the passing of this Act, no Barrel shall be used in the making or manufacturing of any Gun, Fowling Piece, Blunderbuss, Pistol or other Description of Fire Arms usually called Small Arms, unless the same shall have been duly proved at the Proof House of the Gunmakers' Company inLondon , or at the Proof House to be established under the Provisions of this Act, or some Proof House belonging to His Majesty, or other Proof House established as a Public Proof House by Law; and which Public Proof Houses His Majesty is hereby authorized and empowered to establish in such Places, and under such Regulations as to the Care and Management thereof, as His Majesty shall think fit.
II Using or selling Barrels not duly proved.
II. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the Expiration of Three Weeks from the passing of this Act, every Person who shall use or cause or procure to be used any Barrel in the making, manufacturing or finishing of any Gun, Fowling Piece, Blunderbuss, Pistol, or any other Description of Fire Arms as aforesaid, or who shall sell or cause to be sold any Barrel for the making of any Gun, Fowling Piece, Blunderbuss, Pistol or other Description of Fire Arms, which shall not first have been duly proved, and marked as proved at the Gunmakers Company's Proof House inLondon , or at the Proof House to be established under the Provisions of this Act, or some Proof House belonging to His Majesty, or other Public Proof House established as such by Law or by His Majesty, shall forfeit and pay for every such Offence any Sum not exceeding Twenty Pounds to be recovered as hereinafter mentioned.
III Proviso for Scotland and Ireland, and for Arms for Military Service, and for East India Company.
III. Provided always, and be it further enacted and declared, That nothing in this Act contained shall extend, or be construed to extend to that Part of the United Kingdom calledScotland , or to that Part of the United Kingdom called Ireland (except as to the forging Marks as in this Act after mentioned), or to the proving of any Barrels used in the manufacturing of any Musquet, Pistol or other Fire Arms, for the Use of His Majesty's Forces, or for the Honourable East India Company .
IV Company of Guardians, &c. of Gun Barrel Proof House of Birmingham established.
IV. And be it further enacted, That, from and after the passing of this Act, the Lord Lieutenants of the respective Counties ofWarwick, Worcester and Stafford , and the Persons serving in Parliament for the said Counties respectively for the time being, and Robert Wheeler, John Adams, Thomas Archer junior, Richard Sutherland, John Heely, John Oughton, William Ryan, Bartholemew Redsern, John Williams Keene, John Smith, William Allport, John Jones, George Jones, Gad Parsons, Joseph Bunney , and their Successors to be chosen in manner hereinafter directed, shall be and they are hereby declared to be a Body Politic and Corporate, and shall be called or known by the Name of ‘The Guardians, Trustees and Wardens of the Gun Barrel Proof House of the Town of Birmingham,’ for the Purpose of proving or causing to be proved, in the manner directed by this Act, all Barrels for Guns, Fowling Pieces, Blunderbusses, Pistols, and every other Description of Fire Arms which shall be brought to the Proof House at Birmingham , to be proved according to the Provisions of this Act; and it shall be lawful for such of the Members of the said Company as shall be resident in the Town of Birmingham , or within Twenty Miles thereof, and they are hereby authorized and required, on or before the First Day of August next, to meet at some convenient Place within the Town of Birmingham, and the major Part of the Guardians then present (such major Part not being less than Ten) shall choose Three Persons, out of the said Guardians, Trustees and Wardens, to be Wardens of the said Proof House to inspect and superintend the Proofs or proving of all Barrels sent to be proved at the said House, and to have the sole Management thereof for One Year and no longer, unless re-elected by the said Guardians, Trustees and Wardens, in manner hereinafter mentioned.
V. And, for continuing a sufficient Number of fit and proper Persons, in Addition to such Lord Lieutenants and Members of Parliament as aforesaid, who are to continue to be Guardians, Trustees and Wardens, for putting in Executionthe Powers of this Act, be it further enacted, That the said Guardians, Trustees and Wardens shall, and they are hereby authorized and required to meet annually on the Sixteenth Day ofMarch , (unless it shall happen to be on a Sunday , and then on the Day following) in some convenient Place in the Town of Birmingham , and to elect and choose in manner aforesaid, fit and proper Persons resident in the said Town of Birmingham , or within Twenty Miles thereof, in the Place and Stead of such of the said Guardians, Trustees and Wardens (other than and except such Lord Lieutenants and Members as aforesaid), who shall have died or removed to a greater Distance than Twenty Miles from Birmingham , or declined to act as such Guardians, Trustees or Wardens, so as by reason of such Choice there shall not be, when the said Guardians, Trustees and Wardens are complete, more than Fifteen, in Addition to such Lord Lieutenants and Members as aforesaid; and that immediately after the full Number shall have been so filled up in manner aforesaid, they shall be enabled and are hereby authorized and directed to proceed to the Election of Three Persons, by Majority of Voices of the Persons present, to be Wardens of the said Company for the ensuing Year, and if any of the said Wardens, so chosen as aforesaid, shall happen to die, or remove to a greater Distance than Twenty Miles from Birmingham , then the said Guardians, Trustees and Wardens shall, at some Meeting to be held at Birmingham within One Calendar Month after such Death or Removal as aforesaid (and of which Meeting Seven Days' Notice shall be given) choose another Person out of the said Guardians, Trustees and Wardens, in manner aforesaid, to be Warden in his Room, and such Person shall and is hereby authorized and required to act accordingly for the Remainder of the Year.
'VI. And whereas certain Sums of Money have been subscribed in the Town ofBirmingham , for the Erection and Establishmentof a public Proof House;' Be it therefore further enacted, That the said Guardians, Trustees and Wardens shall, immediately after the passing of this Act, enter all such Subscriptions in a Book to be kept for that Purpose, and shall call for the Money so subscribed in regular Proportion from the Subscribers, as they shall think sit; and which Sums the said Guardians, Trustees and Wardens, are hereby authorized to demand and receive, and in case of Refusal to proceed by Action at Law in the Name of the Treasurer for the time being, in which Action it shall be sufficient to state that the Person subscribing is indebted to the said Treasurer for the Sum subscribed under the Provisions of this Act; and the said Guardians, Trustees and Wardens shall, out of such Monies, in the first place...
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