Regulation 4 Prohibited weapons and ammunition

(1)

In Article 6 of the 1981 Order (weapons subject to general prohibition)—

(a)

after paragraph (1) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(1A)

Subject to Article 6A, a person who without the authority of the Secretary of State has in his possession, or purchases or acquires, or sells or transfers—

(a)

any firearm which is disguised as another object;

(b)

any rocket or ammunition not falling within paragraph (1)(c) which consists in or incorporates a missile designed to explode on or immediately before impact and is for military use;

(c)

any launcher or other projecting apparatus not falling within paragraph (1)(ae) which is designed to be used with any rocket or ammunition falling within sub-paragraph (b) or with ammunition which would fall within that sub-paragraph but for its being ammunition falling within paragraph (1)(c);

(d)

any ammunition for military use which consists in or incorporates a missile designed so that a substance contained in the missile will ignite on or immediately before impact;

(e)

any ammunition for military use which consists in or incorporates a missile designed, on account of its having a jacket and hard-core, to penetrate armour plating, armour screening or body armour;

(f)

any ammunition which is designed to be used with a pistol and incorporates a missile designed or adapted to expand on impact;

(g)

anything which is designed to be projected as a missile from any weapon and is designed to be, or has been, incorporated in—

(i)

any ammunition falling within sub-paragraphs (b)

to (f); or

(ii)

any ammunition which would fall within any of those subparagraphs but for its being specified in paragraph (1),

shall be guilty of an offence.”;

(b)

after paragraph (5) there shall be added the following paragraph—

“(6)

For the purposes of this Article and Article 6A—

(a)

any rocket or ammunition which is designed to be capable of being used with a military weapon shall be taken to be for military use;

(b)

references to a missile designed so that a substance contained in the missile will ignite on or immediately before impact include references to any missile containing a substance that ignites on exposure to air; and

(c)

references to a missile’s expanding on impact include references to its deforming in any predictable manner on or immediately after impact.”.

(2)

After that Article there shall be inserted the following Article—

“Exemptions from requirement of authority under Article 6

6A

(1)

Subject to paragraph (2), the authority of the Secretary of State shall not be required by virtue of Article 6(1A) for any person to have in his possession, or to purchase, acquire, sell or transfer, any prohibited weapon or ammunition if he is authorised by a firearm certificate to possess, purchase or acquire that weapon or ammunition subject to a condition that he does so only for the purpose of its being kept or exhibited as part of a collection.

(2)

No sale or transfer may be made under paragraph (1) except to a person who—

(a)

produces the authority of the Secretary of State under Article 6 for his purchase or acquisition; or

(b)

shows that he is entitled under this Article to make the purchase or acquisition without the authority of the Secretary of State.

(3)

The authority of the Secretary of State shall not be required by virtue of Article 6(1A) for any person to have in his possession, or to purchase or acquire, any prohibited weapon or ammunition if his possession, purchase or acquisition is exclusively in connection with the carrying on of activities in respect of which—

(a)

that person; or

(b)

the person on whose behalf he has possession, or makes the purchase or acquisition,

is recognised, for the purposes of the law of another member State relating to firearms, as a collector of firearms or a body concerned in the cultural or historical aspects of weapons.

(4)

The authority of the Secretary of State shall not be required by virtue of Article 6(1A) for any person to have in his possession, or to purchase or acquire, any expanding ammunition or the missile for any such ammunition if—

(a)

he is authorised by a firearm certificate to possess, purchase or acquire ammunition which is designed to be used with a pistol; and

(b)

the firearm certificate contains a condition prohibiting the use of expanding ammunition for purposes not authorised by the European weapons directive.

(5)

The authority of the Secretary of State shall not be required by virtue of Article 6(1A) for any person to have in his possession any expanding ammunition or the missile for any such ammunition if—

(a)

he is entitled under Article 11 to have a slaughtering instrument and the ammunition for it in his possession; and

(b)

the ammunition or missile in question is designed to be capable of being used with a slaughtering instrument.

(6)

The authority of the Secretary of State shall not be required by virtue of Article 6(1A) for the sale or transfer of any expanding ammunition or the missile for any such ammunition to any person who produces a firearm certificate by virtue of which he is authorised under paragraph (4) to purchase or acquire it without the authority of the Secretary of State.

(7)

The authority of the Secretary of State shall not be required by virtue of Article 6(1A) for a person carrying on the business of a firearms dealer, or any servant of his, to have in his possession, or to purchase, acquire, sell or transfer, any expanding ammunition or the missile for any such ammunition if—

(a)

the person carrying on that business is registered as a firearms dealer subject to a condition which prohibits the purchase or acquisition of any such ammunition or missile except for the purpose of making sales or transfers to persons whose purchases or acquisitions are authorised by paragraph (4) or this paragraph; and

(b)

the possession, purchase, acquisition, sale or transfer in question is in the ordinary course of that business.

(8)

In this Article—

(a)

references to expanding ammunition are references to any ammunition which is designed to be used with a pistol and incorporates a missile which is designed to expand on impact; and

(b)

references to the missile for any such ammunition are references to anything which, in relation to any such ammunition, falls within Article 6(1A)(g).”.