Section 1 Penalty for purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition without certificate
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.
If any person—
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
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.
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.