Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 in Northern Ireland

Section 1 of the principal Act shall have effect with the following amendments the purpose of which is to require a firearm certificate for certain types of shot gun.

For paragraph (a) of subsection (3) (which exempts shot guns with barrels not less than 24 inches in length) there shall be substituted—

“(a)

a shot gun within the meaning of this Act, that is to say a smooth-bore gun (not being an air gun) which—

(i)

has a barrel not less than 24 inches in length and does not have any barrel with a bore exceeding 2 inches in diameter;

(ii)

either has no magazine or has a non-detachable magazine incapable of holding more than two cartridges; and

(iii)

is not a revolver gun; and”.

After subsection (3) there shall be inserted—

“(3A)

A gun which has been adapted to have such a magazine as is mentioned in subsection (3)(a)(ii) above shall not be regarded as falling within that provision unless the magazine bears a mark approved by the Secretary of State for denoting that fact and that mark has been made, and the adaptation has been certified in writing as having been carried out in a manner approved by him, either by one of the two companies mentioned in section 58(1) of this Act or by such other person as may be approved by him for that purpose.”

For section 28(1) of the principal Act (criteria for grant of shot gun certificates) there shall be substituted—

“(1)

Subject to subsection (1A) below, a shot gun certificate shall be granted or, as the case may be, renewed by the chief officer of police if he is satisfied that the applicant can be permitted to possess a shot gun without danger to the public safety or to the peace.

(1A)

No such certificate shall be granted or renewed if the chief officer of police—

(a)

has reason to believe that the applicant is prohibited by this Act from possessing a shot gun; or

(b)

is satisfied that the applicant does not have a good reason for possessing, purchasing or acquiring one.

(1B)

For the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (1A) above an applicant shall, in particular, be regarded as having a good reason if the gun is intended to be used for sporting or competition purposes or for shooting vermin; and an application shall not be refused by virtue of that paragraph merely because the applicant intends neither to use the gun himself nor to lend it for anyone else to use.”

After section 28(2) of the principal Act (form and contents of shot gun certificates) there shall be inserted—

“(2A)

A shot gun certificate shall specify the description of the shot guns to which it relates including, if known, the identification numbers of the guns.”

This section applies to ammunition to which section 1 of the principal Act does not apply and which is capable of being used in a shot gun or in a smooth-bore gun to which that section applies.

It is an offence for a person to sell any such ammunition to another person in the United Kingdom who is neither a registered firearms dealer nor a person who sells such ammunition by way of trade or business unless that other person—

An offence under this section shall be punishable on summary conviction with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or both.

Subject to subsection (2) below, it is an offence to shorten to a length less than 24 inches the barrel of any smooth-bore gun to which section 1 of the principal Act applies other than one which has a barrel with a bore exceeding 2 inches in diameter; and that offence shall be punishable—

It is not an offence under this section for a registered firearms dealer to shorten the barrel of a gun for the sole purpose of replacing a defective part of the barrel so as to produce a barrel not less than 24 inches in length.

it bears a mark which has been approved by the Secretary of State for denoting that fact and which has been made either by one of the two companies mentioned in section 58(1) of the principal Act or by such other person as may be approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this section; and

that company or person has certified in writing that work has been carried out on the firearm in a manner approved by the Secretary of State for rendering it incapable of discharging any shot, bullet or other missile.

In section 33(5) of the principal Act (annual renewal of dealer’s registration certificate) for the words “on or before 1st June in each year” there shall be substituted the words “on or before the expiration of the period of three years from the grant of the certificate of registration for the time being held by him”.

In section 34 of that Act (grounds for refusal of registration) after subsection (1) there shall be inserted—

“(1A)

The chief officer of police may refuse to register an applicant unless he is satisfied that the applicant will engage in business as a firearms dealer to a substantial extent or as an essential part of another trade, business or profession.”

In section 38(8) of that Act (dealer to surrender his certificate of registration on being removed from the register) after the words “surrender his certificate of registration” there shall be inserted the words “and the register of transactions kept by him under section 40 of this Act”.

After section 40(3) of that Act (entry of transactions in the register) there shall be inserted—

“(3A)

Every person keeping a register in accordance with this section shall (unless required to surrender the register under section 38(8) of this Act) keep it for such a period that each entry made after the coming into force of this subsection will be available for inspection for at least five years from the date on which it was made.”

In the Table in Part I of Schedule 6 to that Act (punishments for offences) in the second column of the entry relating to section 38(8), after the words “certificate of registration” there shall (in consequence of subsection (3) above) be inserted the words “or register of transactions”.

It is an offence for an auctioneer, carrier or warehouseman—

An offence under this section shall be punishable on summary conviction with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or both.

A person under the supervision of a member of the armed forces may, without holding a certificate or obtaining the authority of the Secretary of State under section 5 of the principal Act, have in his possession a firearm F2, ammunition and a relevant accessory on service premises.

Subsection (1) above does not apply to a person while engaged in providing security protection on service premises.

In this section—

• “ armed forces ” means any of the naval, military or air forces of Her Majesty; and

• “ service premises ” means premises, including any ship or aircraft, used for any purpose of the armed forces.

A person who is being trained or assessed in the use of firearms under the supervision of a member of the Ministry of Defence Police may, without holding a certificate or obtaining the authority of the Secretary of State under section 5 of the principal Act, have in his possession a firearm F2, ammunition and a relevant accessory on relevant premises for the purposes of the training or assessment.

In this section “ relevant premises ” means premises used for any purpose of the Ministry of Defence Police.

An Order in Council under paragraph 1(1)(b) of Schedule 1 to the M1Northern Ireland Act 1974 (legislation for Northern Ireland in the interim period) which states that it is made only for purposes corresponding to those of the provisions of this Act to which this section applies—

This section applies to—

This Act may be cited as the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988.

This Act and the Firearms Acts 1968 and 1982 may be cited together as the Firearms Acts 1968 to 1988.

Except for section 26 and this section the provisions of this Act shall not come into force until such day as the Secretary of State may appoint by an order made by statutory instrument; and any such order may appoint different days for different provisions or different purposes and contain such transitional provisions as appear to the Secretary of State to be necessary or expedient in connection with any provision brought into force.

Except for F1section 1, so far as enabling provision to be made amending the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, and section 26 and this section this Act does not extend to Northern Ireland.