Firearms Act 1937
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1937 c. 12 |
| Year | 1937 |
Firearms Act, 1937
(1 Edw. 8 & 1 Geo. 6.) CHAPTER 12.
An Act to consolidate the provisions of the Firearms Acts, 1920 to 1936, relating to firearms, imitation firearms and other weapons and to ammunition.
[18th February 1937]
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, as follows:—
Part I.
and other Transactions.and Sale of certain Firearms and AmmunitionRegulation of Purchase, Possession, Manufacture
Purchase and Possession of certain Firearms and Ammunition.
1 Penalty for purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition without certificate.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, no person shall purchase, acquire or have in his possession any firearm or ammunition to which this Part of this Act applies unless he holds a firearm certificate in force at the time.
(2) If any person—
(a ) purchases, acquires or has in his possession any firearm or ammunition to which this Part of this Act applies without holding a firearm certificate in force at the time, or otherwise than as authorised by such a certificate, or, in the case of ammunition, in quantities in excess of those so authorised; or
(b ) fails to comply with any condition subject to which a firearm certificate is held by him;
he shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, for each offence be liable, on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, or to both such imprisonment and fine.
(3) In Scotland, a contravention of this section which, if it had been triable on indictment, could competently have been libelled as an additional or alternative charge in an indictment charging a person with an offence involving any injury or attempted injury of, or any threat or intent to injure, any person or property by the use or attempted use of a firearm, may, notwithstanding anything in this section, be so libelled and tried.
2 Grant, renewal, variation, and revocation of certificates.
(1) An application for the grant of a certificate under this section shall be made in the prescribed form to the chief officer of police for the area in which the applicant resides and shall state such particulars as may be required by the said form.
(2) The certificate shall be granted by the chief officer of police if he is satisfied that the applicant has a good reason for purchasing, acquiring, or having in his possession the firearm or ammunition in respect of which the application is made, and can be permitted to have in his possession that firearm or ammunition without danger to the public safety or to the peace:
Provided that a certificate shall not be granted to a person whom the chief officer of police has reason to believe to be prohibited by this Act from possessing a firearm to which this Part of this Act applies, or to be of intemperate habits or unsound mind, or to be for any reason unfitted to be entrusted with such a firearm.
(3) A certificate granted under this section shall be in the prescribed form and shall specify the conditions (if any) subject to which it is held, the nature and number of the firearms to which it relates, and, as respects ammunition, the quantities authorised to be purchased and to be held at any one time thereunder.
(4) A firearm certificate shall, unless previously revoked or cancelled, continue in force for three years from the date when it was granted or last renewed, but shall be renewable for a further period of three years by the chief officer of police for the area in which the holder resides, and so from time to time, and the foregoing provisions of this section shall apply to the renewal of a certificate as they apply to the grant of a certificate:
Provided that, subject to the power of renewal conferred by this subsection, a certificate granted or last renewed in Northern Ireland shall not continue in force for a period longer than that for which it was so granted or last renewed.
(5) The chief officer of police for the area in which the holder of a firearm certificate resides may at any time by notice in writing vary the conditions subject to which the certificate is held, except such of them as may be prescribed, and may by the notice require the holder to deliver up the certificate to him within twenty-one days from the date of the notice for the purpose of amending the conditions specified therein.
(6) A firearm certificate may also, on the application of the holder thereof, be varied from time to time by the chief officer of police for the area in which the holder for the time resides.
(7) A firearm certificate may be revoked by the chief officer of police for the area in which the holder resides if—
(a ) the chief officer is satisfied that the holder is prohibited by this Act from possessing a firearm to which this Part of this Act applies, or is of intemperate habits or unsound mind, or is otherwise unfitted to be entrusted with such a firearm; or
(b ) the holder fails to comply with a notice under subsection (5) of this section requiring him to deliver up the certificate.
(8) Any person aggrieved by a refusal of a chief officer of police to grant him a certificate under this section or to vary or renew a firearm certificate, or by the revocation of a firearm certificate under paragraph (a ) of the last foregoing subsection, may appeal—
(a ) in England, in accordance with so much of the provisions of the First Schedule to this Act as relates to appeals, to the court of quarter sessions having jurisdiction in the county, borough or place in which he resides; or
(b ) in Scotland, in accordance with Act of Sederunt, to the sheriff within whose jurisdiction he resides.
(9) In any case where a firearm certificate is revoked by a chief officer of police, he shall by notice in writing require the holder to surrender the certificate, and if the holder fails to do so within twenty-one days from the date of the notice, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds:
Provided that, where an appeal is brought against the revocation, this subsection shall not apply to that revocation unless the appeal is abandoned or dismissed, and shall in that case have effect as if for the reference to the date of the notice there were substituted a reference to the date on which the appeal was abandoned or dismissed.
(10) If any person makes any statement which he knows to be false for the purpose of procuring, whether for himself or any other person, the grant of a certificate under this section, or the variation, or renewal of a firearm certificate, he shall for each offence be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds or to both such imprisonment and fine.
3 Fees in respect of certificates.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and of section five of this Act, there shall be payable—
(a ) on the grant of a firearm certificate (in this section referred to as a ‘certificate’) a fee of five shillings; and
(b ) on the renewal of a certificate, or on any variation of a certificate which increases the number of firearms to which the certificate relates, or on the replacement of a certificate which has been lost or destroyed, a fee of two shillings and sixpence:
Provided that, where a certificate is varied as aforesaid and renewed or replaced at the same time, no fee shall be payable on the variation.
(2) No fee shall be payable on the grant, to any responsible officer of a rifle club, miniature rifle club or cadet corps approved for the purpose by a Secretary of State, of a certificate in respect of firearms or ammunition to be used solely for target practice or drill by the members of the club or corps, or on the variation or renewal of a certificate so granted.
(3) No fee shall be payable on the grant, variation or renewal of a certificate if the chief officer of police is satisfied that the certificate relates solely to and, in the case of a variation, will continue when varied to relate solely to—
(a ) a firearm or ammunition which the applicant requires as part of the equipment of a ship; or
(b ) a signalling apparatus, or ammunition therefor, which the applicant requires as part of the equipment of an aircraft or aerodrome; or
(c ) a slaughtering instrument, or ammunition therefor, which the applicant requires for the purpose of the slaughter of animals.
(4) No fee shall be payable—
(a ) on the grant or renewal of a certificate relating solely to a firearm which is shown to the satisfaction of the chief officer of police to be kept by the applicant as a trophy of a war; or
(b ) on any variation of a certificate the sole effect of which is to add such a firearm as aforesaid to the firearms to which the certificate relates;
if the certificate is granted, renewed or varied subject to the condition that the applicant shall not use the firearm.
4 Exemptions from holding a certificate.
(1) The following provisions of this section shall have effect notwithstanding anything in section one of this Act.
(2) A person carrying on the business of a firearms dealer and registered as such, or a servant of such a person, may, without holding a firearm certificate (in this section referred to as a ‘certificate’) purchase, acquire or have in his possession...
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