UK Airgun Law

We are in a tiny minority, and have to eat humble pie where the general public and the police are concerned, the latter being able to shoot to death an unarmed Brazilian and a guy carrying a table leg, not forgetting beating to death an inebriated news vendor with very little recourse, but that's probably just me being a little picky.

 

Hi can anyone tell me what the law is on air rifle barrel length and overall air rifle length thanks

 

No legal minimum or maximum with air guns; an air pistol is a pistol if so designated by the manufacturer, and the same applies to a rifle.

 

Until they go to FAC then restrictions kick in (according to John Bowkett)

I asked him last week about this 30/60 rule.

 

Hi

In the process of purchasing an Air Rifle. As a teenager i'd go into woods and shoot targets and small birds etc. That was over 25 years ago and as a more responsible adult i'd like to know the situation. I intend to join a local ARC and if that is my only way to shoot then thats fair enough. But i'd love to still be able to go into woods and shoot targets(Not animals or birds as my thoughts have changed since then.). But i don't want to think a dog walker would pass me and ten minutes later a swat team converge and i have a helicopter overhead. So what is the legal situation with this?
Is it ok to go into woods and then shoot without fear of arrest or prosecution?
I am in Edinburgh by the way so i don't know if Scottish Law is the Same as English/Welsh Law.

 

No,you have to shoot on private land only,and you need permission from the land owner,preferably written.

Shooting on land without permission is armed trespass.

 

Not if it's "common land".

The long and short is as Matty said, don't do it without permission, but as no one strictly owns the common land, there are no landowners as such.

 

Thanks for the information

 

Hi peeps. new to the thread. not so new to airguns tho jsut one question about this post. it states that it is illegal for airguns that look real to be sold!!! so how to pellpax get away with it?? as i have bought several guns off them and they look very real indeed!

cheers

stu

 

Didnt know this? I thought it was illegal to shoot on common land?

 

i was told different , cant remember the lengths but if you take a rifle and cut the stock off you have a 12ft lb pistol which is a section whatever firearm ?

 

I've heard that said before as well, but a few months ago on here there was some heated (and well-researched) debate about this subject, and one member posted a link to a bit of legislation that said that the minimum length laws do not apply to air "weapons" - the government's term, not mine - and if the gun was built as an air rifle, then in the eyes of the law it remains an air rifle. Likewise a pistol stays a pistol, even if you put a huge long barrel on it.

 

Hi guys. Reading this thread with interest especially the bits about some Police not knowing the law.
Well I'm a Police Officer myself and confirm this is true, to an extent.

Policing, done properly is very simple. You talk to people decently and have some knowledge of the law. I say some because the law is a huge complicated beast and I've yet to meet any cop of any rank who knows the answer to every question relating to the law, it's really not possible to know everything and unfortunately some cops let themselves, and all us who want to do a proper job, down big time with their attitudes and the way they speak to folk. Just the same as bad apples in every occupation do.

Firearms legislation is an area I find a frequent knowledge gap in. Often this is simply because believe it or not it's not something we deal with a great deal. In rural areas the local officers will tend to have a much greater knowledge of the law around air weapons than one in an urban area. Likewise shotguns. When I worked a rural area you wouldn't believe the number of calls we got about men with shotguns, they were nearly always the local gamekeepers being spotted by city folk tourists who just didn't understand country ways.

Until i I started air gunning, only a couple of years ago, I admit my personal knowledge of airgun law was very lacking and I have been in the Police for 22 years. Why was it lacking? Probably because it's an area of law I never really needed to know. Since taking it up I have ensured I am up to speed as best as I can be.

Colleagues now now will ask my advice and one if the common themes I come across is a belief among many that all gas powered guns are illegal or need a FAC. This is despite the fact they don't know what a "gas powered" gun actually is.

As of course we are all aware the vast majority of air gunners are decent folk who enjoy their sport but there are idiots who ruin things for everyone.
I remember a job from many years ago where some idiot was leaning out of his flat window overlooking the market square taking potshots at the town hall clock. He then fell asleep and only woke when his door was kicked in by 5 heavily armed firearms officers pointing Steyr Carbines at him. Then there are the bedroom window snipers taking pot shots at pedestrians and cars.
All I can add to sum up is that anyone taking their gun out in public that acts sensibly and had a good reason, won't (shouldn't get into any trouble).

Take care folks and happy air gunning.

Cheers
Lee.

 

Thanks for that Lee, interesting to see a pov from the other side of the fence so to speak.

 

We only really hear about the times when something goes wrong. I work in psychiatry and therefore every so often we have to rely on armed police officers when we are concerned that a patient may have a weapon. So far they have not shot any of them despite provocation.

 

Can I just add my contribution to this discussion?, everything said here regarding the UK Firearms laws seems to be taken to apply UK-wide, this is NOT the case.
The firearms regulations in Northern Ireland are very different to those in the remainder of the UK, sub-12fp air rifles are treated the same, but anything over that requires a FAC, (as it does everywhere else), but we have no Shotgun Certificate here, shotguns being classified as firearms and requiring a FAC. In addition there is no blanket ban on private ownership of revolvers/pistols here as there is in the rest of the UK.
I am probably the only Northern Ireland resident who is a member of this forum, but I felt that I should point out the differences just to set the record straight, and also to avoid any would-be NI shooter who joins this forum assuming that the "Normal" UK FAC Law applies here as well.

Wilf

 

I thought all firearms over 0.75 ftlbs needed to be on FAC in Northern Ireland including air rifles and air pistols. Has the law now been changed to allow you sub 12 air rifles off of FAC??
Cheers Andy

 

And this is precisely why those of us north of the border are now facing the introduction of licenses for sub-12fpe airguns...

 

Mea maxima culpa!

I stand corrected, this shows what happens when you rely on memory without checking for later alterations!

I apologise for misleading anyone when I was trying to help.

I shall now go and sit in a corner for a while and contemplate the error of my ways!

Wilf