Posted: 6/4/2006 6:19:09 PM EDT
| I'm just curious, what are the gun laws like in the UK? People are arguing about it in the GD. My wife is from England but really doesn't know the laws pertaining to gun ownership. I've thought about moving to England, but from what I've heard the gun laws are highly restrictive. Like how hard is it to own an AR15 in England? |
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Once you been vetted through a club, and have acquired a Firearms Certificate (police checks, upstanding citizen etc) owning Section 1 firearms isn't really much of a problem. Provided they are kept secure in approved safes you should be ok to get anything that is presently allowed. Edited: As had it in wrong order...  Mainland UK lost its semi auto riflles in 1987, followed by pistols in 1996..... I have a pair of AR15's that are "straight pull" action, a long barreled .44 pistol (must be over 24" overall) a few bolt action rifles and a pair of Section 1 shotguns (multishot)..... Basically, if you have good reason to own a firearm and are "sound" in the polices eyes then you should have no problem...... Not quite sure how you would stand as a new visitor to the UK?  There are guys on here who know more about this than I do and was wondering if we still had a tacked thread kicking about that explained things more definitivly.... |
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You'll need to do a 6 month stint at a home office approved club as a probationer...once you're a full member you can start thinking about applying for an FAC, but you will be vetted by the police (home checks, interviews etc). Once you have the FAC you can buy the firearms that you asked for on your FAC... It's a very long process but I guess it's all worth it once you have the ticket. Nothing available in semi-auto centrefire. There are plans in the making to try and bring back .22 semi auto pistols and perhaps .38's. (Unlikely IMHO). Basically, if you're used to owning firearms in the US, then be prepared for a shocker when you come over here... |
But expect to pay from £800 upwards for a new one. |
Or, if like me, you had a collection of Brococks before they were banned, you just got given your licensehave I feel a bit blessed really compared to some of the other horror story applications I've heard about.
If (and it's and big 'IF') that happens, they'll be IUT or ISSF style pistols only and will be on a section 7.3 basis which will more than likely be revoked after 2012 |
....and after all the hoops we all jumped through in joining a club and getting a license. Another one of the wonderful laws passed by our glorious government. You're not the only one on this forum though who got their license that way. Enjoy your shooting Mark |
Yes, amazing isn't it, all the real handguns are banned because they are 'especially dangerous'… then the Home Sec declares Brococks are 'especially dangerous', (because they can be easiuly converted to fire real ammo), BUT! you get grandfather rights and a licence to keep them pretty much on demand and no requirement to show good reason or even shoot the things. .22 S&W revolver: Banned as especially dangerous, no grandfather rights.  .22 Brococks banned and not banned at the same time as 'especially dangerous' but you can keep them. Before the ban, Brococks were supposed to be some BS figure like 90% of the handguns recovered by the Police, after the ban, even thoigh 95% of those sold cannot be accounted for, as if by magic, Brococks stop being recovered and now it's 9mm Glocks and CZ's that are being recovered… did I miss something? Never let it be said that this .Gov is not consistent in it's spin and lies. ANdy |
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If memory serves me it was the Met Police that publicly declared that 50% of all handguns used in crime and recovered were Brococks converted to fire live ammunition. This helped rush through the legislation. Afterwards they admitted, '..oops, sorry, we meant 5%!!' Daft thing was that those recovered presented far more danger to the shooter than the target and would most likely blow apart in their hand. Naturally the damage was done, but the ban covered rifles as well as handguns, basically anything that used a Tandem Air Cartridge system (re-named Self Contained Air Cartridge system by the Home Office). The Home office estimated that 70,000 such guns were in circulation. Brocock said it was nearer 75,000, but what would they know they were just the importers. Anyway, through the two options of licensing and surrender/destruction, they accounted for less than 7,000 guns. That means that they actually created 63,000-68,000 unlawfully held Section 5 Prohibited Firearms! Nice one Tony. The fiasco rolled on when, just prior to the ban, the Home Office and most Police Forces neglected to inform the general populace about the impending legislation, and still haven't done it adequately so that there are now thousands of law-abiding members of the public out there that still have these guns and are unknowingly technically criminals and looking at a 5 year stretch if caught. It's so ludicrous that even the Crown Prosecution Service have said that no-one in such possession will be prosecuted unless the gun is actually used to perpetrate a criminal act. Further irony ensued when, as stated here, people who were previously quite happy with their air guns obtained a Firearms Certificate, which opened the door to possession of semi-auto hi-cap .22's, centrefire rifles of any calibre you can justify, pump and semi-auto shotguns, etc, etc. So as a 'Guns Off the Streets' political exercise it's been a total failure as these guns were never a serious issue anyway, they totally screwed it up and Joe Public now has far more serious weaponry in the gun cabinet. For this I thank them. The growth in gun ownership has led to more participation in certain shooting sports which is good for all shooters! Strangely enough the Government hasn't commented on the effect of the new legislation........................................................ |
| Brocock is a company that makes (made) rifles and pistols that used a self-contained air cartridge. They were apparently easy to convert to fire 22lr rounds, and became the focus of a lot of anti-gun groups who were looking for the next easy step to take in their aim of a total ban. |
I never really did see that it could be that easy to convert one... the cylinder didn't have any centre section so the cartridge would be unsupported, and the pistols were mostly in .177 calibre. So at the minimum you'd need to make cylinder liners, and possibly bore the barrel as well. (Not to mention the problem of lining the new .22 sized cylinder liner up with the barrel, and turning the centrefire action to rimfire...) Maybe all the hoodie yobs have lathes & metalwork skills now? |
Although the cylinders are 'full' they are machined out internally so even if you reamed them to take a .38 cartridge the thing would blow apart like a grenade. Not forgetting that you would have had to re-barrel it as well! Even if you went these extremes of replacing cylinders and barrels, the frames are made of light alloy and will not take ignition pressures. The whole thing was a farce. I have seen one so called 'conversion'. It was a joke. The gun , a .22, was untouched but a cartridge had been adapted to hold a .22lr round. It clearly wouldn't have worked, and even if it had ignited it would have disintegrated in the cartridge and chamber, presenting most danger to the user....Hey I've just had a crime reduction idea.......... |
50 for the licence, 130 plus for a cabinet, typical gun prices at www.southern-gun.co.uk |
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It was very easily done indeed, >>deleted<< Now look at >>deleted<< Since these guns are no longer in circulation and the adapters would be illegal also I hope theres no harm in posting this? >>Actually there is and if you would all go and read the CoC and look at point 3. you will see that you're getting near the mark. We don't need information on how to convert airguns into frearms<< But trust me there was a really good reason Brocock got very rich selling 70,000 very expensive blued steel revolvers that were actually almost useless at being airguns  Richard Just trying to keep this above board Mark My humble apologies, off to find the COC (which I assume are the rules?) Richard |
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Quoted: I But trust me there was a really good reason Brocock got very rich selling 70,000 very expensive blued steel revolvers that were actually almost useless at being airgunshard They were, and still are, very good airguns. Admittedley enough the cheapo models (actually converted blank firers/starter pistols) were rubbish and just had a novelty value. However the Orion range are very good, with relatively high power levels, good accuracy and six shot capacity. I shot them successfully in practical competitions and still do accasionally for steel plate. They are quite high maintenance, the cartridges rather than the guns, but if you like fiddling with gadgets it's no problem. For a laugh I once shot my Orion against people shooting full-bore LBR's in a practical comp. for a few stages and absoloutely creamed them. |
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Just a quick 'heads up' because some people seem to be under the impression it's a 'grey area' because Brococks are now banned. Providing information on how to illegally convert a Section 5 firearm is an offence under the various sub sections of the assorted Firearms Acts and can get you up to 8 years in one of Her Majesties Holiday Camps. Brococks are still on unrestricted sale in Europe and the Boys in Blue will be very unhappy if people starts telling 'Pete the Chav' how to get a 'shooter'. Brococks are not 'banned', the sale of them was banned and possession without having registered it and having it put on a valid firearms licence was made an offence. They are now classified as Section 5 or Section 1… some of us have them under Section 1. ANdy |
Nonsense  While I accept my ticking off from Mark re the COC I'm somewhat puzzled by your post? Could you clarify where exactly you have created this completely new offence from, its certainly not in the 1968 Firearms Act or any of its subsequent amendments? I have them all here so chapter and page number would be ideal. My source for the now deleted information is a very senior police officer involved in firearms law on a daily basis, perhaps I should shop him under your new law? Amazon.co.uk carry a range of books by Bill Holmes detailing firearms manufacture up to and including machine guns, similarly he, Amazon and their customers should all face charges. Knowledge of firearm manufacture is certainly not yet an offence in the UK otherwise the various armament businesses would be in real trouble. I very much look forward to your retraction Richard |
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I agree with Richard here. I have many books that explain in great detail on how to service, fault-find, fix and build ARs in all their guises, including full-auto and associated grenade launchers. These are not illegal to own. The same as knowledge is not illegal, but acting upon that knowledge is where the offence is made. Anyone can sell a reloading press, dies, allthe components, and an illustrated manual on how to manufacture ammo to someone without a licence, but making the stuff is the illegal bit. HOWEVER, our COC actually mentions a prohibition on; 3.) Posting or linking to information on how to make illegal modifications to firearms or purchase illegal items. The infringement here was under the COC and not the Firearms Act. After saying all that, sometimes it is best to keep quiet about what you can and cannot do. Anyone want to know how you can legally own/buy firearms and ammo without an FAC? Pikeys know, but I'm not telling 
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Thanks Matt, I'm not quite sure what Vito's problem is, perhaps someone could drop me a PM? 
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Trolling and baiting… |
