The Licensing of Section 1 Firearms and Ammunition
| Author | Laura Saunsbury/Nick Doherty |
| Pages | 39-81 |
Chapter 3
The Licensing of Section 1 Firearms and Ammunition
DEFINITION OF SECTION 1 FIREARMS
3.01 The term ‘section 1 firearm’ is commonly applied to those guns which are caught by the definition in section 1 of the FA 1968 and which, in general, require a firearm certificate for lawful possession or use. In practice, most section 1 firearms held on certificate now are rifles, muzzle-loading pistols, long-barrelled pistols or large capacity shotguns.
3.02 These firearms are mainly defined by exception,
(a) An air rifle or air gun capable of discharging a missile so that the missile has, on discharge from the muzzle, kinetic energy exceeding 12 foot pounds, except a weapon as described below.
(b) An air pistol discharging a missile as above but with a kinetic energy exceeding 6 foot pounds, except a weapon as described below.
The exceptions from items (a) and (b) above are weapons designed for use only under water.
(c) Any air rifle, air gun or air pistol which is disguised as another object.
Air weapons include weapons powered by compressed carbon dioxide.
1 July 1993 by amending rules. Note that air weapons within item (c) are declared to be specially dangerous irrespective of their kinetic energy performance.
40 The Firearms Law Handbook
3.03 In total, section 1 firearms consist of:
(a) Air weapons declared to be specially dangerous as above.
(b) All other kinds of firearms
(i) air weapons not declared to be specially dangerous as above; and
(ii) smooth-bore guns
(1) have barrels not less than 24 inches long
(2) either have no magazine or have a non-detachable magazine incapable of holding more than two cartridges; and
(3) are not revolver guns.
3.04 The effect of paragraph (b) (ii) above is that a shotgun with a magazine capable of holding more than two cartridges will be classified as a section 1 firearm rather than as a section 2 shotgun. The exemption in paragraph (2) above for limited capacity magazines does not apply unless the magazine:
(a) bears an approved
(b) that mark has been made, and the adaptation certified in writing as having been carried out in an approved
In other words, a two-shot capacity magazine shotgun does not qualify as a section 2 shotgun unless the magazine has the appropriate stamp from the Proof House. If not, it will be classified as a section 1 firearm (for which you need a firearm certificate), even if the magazine is in fact two-shot only.
3.05 In addition, a weapon which:
(a) has at any time since 1 July 1989
(b) would at any time before that date have been treated as a section 1 firearm if the present legislation had then been in force,
shall, if it has or at any time has had, a rifled barrel less than 24 inches long,
treated as a section 1 firearm notwithstanding anything done to convert it into a shotgun or an air weapon.
Air weapons
3.06 Air rifles which are only ‘capable’ of producing muzzle velocities below 12 foot pounds and air pistols below 6 foot pounds
(Commencement No 2) Order 1989, Article 3(a) and Sch, Part I).
42 The Firearms Law Handbook
event, even if the certificate proves to be inaccurate, it might reduce the penalty to a conditional discharge. Possession of a firearm is an offence of ‘strict liability’, in other words what the owner thought about the weapon is irrelevant. You have been warned.
3.07 Some air rifles which are usually below the limit can exceed the limits prescribed in the 1969 Rules, either by having oil placed in the barrel (‘dieselling’) or by making adjustments to the gun, sometimes by the use of an external screw. In the last decade or so ‘pre-charged pneumatic’ (PCP) air weapons have become widely available. These use a small cylinder of compressed air to provide the force to propel the pellet. A number of such air rifles are quite easily adjustable, some by use of an external knob. The manufacturers add this feature to enable these rifles to be adjusted to keep them within the limit. However, in our experience, some of this type can equally be adjusted to exceed the permitted limits. The test in the Firearms (Dangerous Air Weapons) Rules 1969 is whether the gun is ‘capable’ of exceeding the limit. Does that apply as found, or after adjustment by a forensic scientist instructed by the police? Almost all firearms are ‘capable’ of being placed into a higher category within the Act. As one example, the removal of a stock from a rifle might reduce it to under 60cm overall length, and so raise it to section 5 classification. That operation will often only require the turn of one screw, just as is the case on a PCP air rifle to adjust the power.
3.08 Does the law say such items are ‘capable’ of being in the higher category, or is the proper test to look at the condition and capability of the item as found in the owner’s possession? The difficulty is that the law has not been updated since PCP air rifles were introduced. As a general rule, most ordinary air weapons are only capable of adjustment to increase the power output by changing the spring or by altering some other physical aspect of the gun. However, given that the manufacturers of PCP air rifles incorporate an adjustment feature, this indicates an acknowledgement on their part that these rifles require adjustment from time to time in order to keep them within the legal limit, and thus that as designed and sold they are also potentially ‘capable’ of exceeding the limit. This begs the question whether it is appropriate to prosecute an individual who is found with an air weapon of this type which in his possession was set within the legal limit. In the absence of any evidence of a deliberate attempt to circumvent the rules, we take the view that if they are below the limit in your possession then you are not breaking the law, although there has so far not been a decided case on this issue.
3.09 As stated above, ‘air weapons’ include those powered by compressed carbon dioxide.
to be controlled under the Firearms Acts. Air weapons disguised as another object are deemed to be ‘specially dangerous’
Scotland – Air Weapon Certificate
3.10 In Scotland, the Air...
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