Current Firearms Legislation relating to Airguns 

Friday, 19 October 2007

Following the enactment of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, listed below are the current regulations relating to the purchase, ownership, sale, loan, and possession of airguns and ammunition.

Persons under the age of 14:

1. No person under the age of 14 may purchase, hire, be given or loaned an airgun or ammunition.

2. A person under the age of 14 must at all times when in possession of an airgun be supervised by a person over the age of 21.

Persons over the age of 14 but under 18:

1. No person under the age of 18 may purchase, hire, or be given an airgun or ammunition.

2. A person in this age group may shoot unsupervised on private land with the permission of the landowner but must be supervised by somebody over the age of 21 if in a public place.
It should be noted that this means that a person aged seventeen and a half who has a driving licence cannot take an air rifle from home to his club unless the gun is possessed by somebody over the age of eighteen or he is supervised by a person over the age of twenty-one.

Persons over the age of 18:

A person over the age of eighteen can buy an airgun and pellets and use them unsupervised.

General Restrictions:

1. It is an offence to have an airgun in a public place “without good reason”, the proof being the responsibility of the possessor.
2. It is an offence to discharge a firearm within fifty feet of a highway.
3. When shooting over private land it is an offence for the pellet to go beyond the boundary of the premises on which the gun is being used unless there is permission from the adjoining landowner.
4. For persons who by way of trade deal in airguns, they must be a Registered Firearms Dealer and any transaction must be face-to-face. Ammunition for airguns may continue to be sold by post.

Exceptions:

1. It is not an offence for a person to have with him an airgun or ammunition whilst being a member of a Home Office Approved Club in connection with target practice.
2. An air rifle with a muzzle velocity in excess of 12 foot pounds (which requires licensing) is not subject to the general restrictions listed above.
3. An “airgun” with the kinetic energy of less than one joule is considered a toy and is therefore not covered by the above restrictions but may be considered a realistic imitation firearm (if it looks like a gun). The sale of realistic imitation firearms is now banned except for historical re-enactment, museums and television/film/theatrical performances or as a recognized member of an air-soft site affiliated to the Association of British Airsoft.
 
Last Updated ( Saturday, 27 June 2009 )

THE LAW AND ALL USERS OF AIRGUNS

• Airguns must not be loaded in a public place, this includes having pellets in a magazine near the gun. (section 19)

• Permission must be granted by the landowner to use any firearm on private property.
  This ideally should be in writing. Without such permission it constitutes aggravated trespass. (section 20)

• Anyone who has been sentenced to any form of detention or corrective training cannot possess a firearm
  unless permitted by the firearms act. (section 21)

• All firearms must be securely covered while travelling through public places. (section 22)

• All pellets discharged must stay within the boundary of the ground from which it was fired. (section 23)

• A firearm must not be fired within 50 feet of the centre of a public highway.

• It is an offence to assist anyone to break the laws that apply to them.
  A simple example of this would be to give someone under the age of 18 a pellet as a souvenir. (section 24)
 
• It is an offence to supply a firearm to anyone they know, or has reasonable cause for believing,
  that they are drunk or of unsound mind. (section 25)

  Other offences include:- 
• Using a firearm to cause injury or fear of violence
  (sections 16 & 16A)

• Using a firearm to resist arrest
  (section 17)

• Carrying a firearm with criminal intent
  (section 18)

EXEMPTIONS TO PROHIBITIONS ARE CONTAINED IN SECTIONS 11 AND 23

All sections relate to the FIREARMS ACT 1968 and subsequent amendments.
The ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR ACT 2003 relating to firearms also applies.

MAXIMUM MUZZLE ENERGY FOR AIRGUNS

The firearms act 1968 section 1 covers firearms for which a firearms certificate is required.
For airguns the “muzzle energy” is the unit used to define section 1 firearms. This is measured in ftlbs ( foot/pounds ) i.e. the energy generated by dropping a weight ( pounds ) from a height ( feet )
So 12 ftlbs is the equivalent of dropping a 12 pound weight from one foot or a 1 pound weight from twelve feet.

For Rifles the maximum muzzle energy is 12 ftlbs
For pistols the maximum muzzle energy is 6 ftlbs

Rifles and pistols used for target shooting are less powerful than the maximum allowed because they only have to accurately propel a pellet a maximum of 10 mtrs.

 
(the above was based on the NSRA YPS handbook and amended by L.W.Gay
to include specific offences and explanations of terms used)