AA, where abouts in the country are you… ?

Yet at the same time Section 28(1A)(b) of the 1968 Act (special provisions about shotgun certificates) says ‘No such certificate shall be granted or renewed if the chief officer of police is satisfied that the applicant does not have a good reason for possessing, purchasing or acquiring one.’ (A separate subsection to the ones about public safety and prohibited persons).

It’s never straightforward!

How so?

Firstly, because the Home Office guidance (if correctly quoted) seems to describe a rebuttable presumption in favour of granting a shotgun certificate, not a rebuttable presumption against granting one.

Secondly, and you might think this is a bit technical, if there’s no requirement for the applicant to make a case for the granting of a shotgun certificate, then it’s not that there is a presumption of having a good reason for possessing shotguns, it’s that the issue of reasons doesn’t come into it at all unless the officer in question entertains “genuine doubts”.

• The Firearms Acts are based on the rebuttable presumption against granting a shotgun certificate i.e. that every applicant has a good reason for possessing shotguns unless the Chief Constable is satisfied there may be a danger to public safety. As Home Office Guidance (11.9) says, “The Act does NOT require the applicant to make out a good case for being granted a certificate but rather extends the chief officer’s ground for refusing one. A chief officer should therefore need to
make further enquiries only when it comes to his notice that there may be genuine doubts about an applicant’s reasons for possessing a shotgun.”

AA, where abouts in the country are you… ?

Reading at the moment.

Don’t have it deactivated! The current standards for deactivation completely ruin the gun.

Er, isn’t that the aim – otherwise you could easily activate it again…

No the aim is only to deactivate so that reactivation would be prohibitively hard to do.

Without going into too much detail, the old standard for deactivation was (in my somewhat experienced opinion) tough enough. I just sold an old spec deac with fully working action. I left school and trained in mechanical engineering. To reactivate a gun so deactivated you’d need proper workshop facilities, and original (FAC only) parts to repair it. You might be able to bodge a repair without the parts, it wouldn’t work anything like a real gun. If you have those proper workshop facilities you CAN BUILD A PERFECTLY GOOD WORKING FIREARM FROM SCRATCH. And of course, if any criminal wanted a firearm THAT badly there are countries outside the UK where they can be bought legally ‘over the counter’.

The new rules really hack the gun about, and if you believe, like me, that a nice gun is a precision work of art instrument, that’s criminal in my mind.

On the proofing thing, so am I right in thinking I would need to get it serviced/resotored and tested before I could take possesion of it? (assuming I had a license by then?) If so what might be a ball park figure?

the Reading firearms officer (got the pangbourne one coming to visit me next week as it happens) seems like a nice chap on the phone btw. AA, if you can get any photos of it i know some people locally who i think could help working out a value, details etc etc 🙂

Unless my father put all the money he had into the gun and more I doubt its worth anything.

My father once bought a shotgun for a tenner – it had Holland and Holland scribbled on it….

… so you never know.

Firstly, because the Home Office guidance – [SNIP] – officer in question entertains “genuine doubts”.

I always understood that that BASC guidance had been tested in court, to the extreme embarrassment of the chief officer in question…

(I admit, this was a few years ago, so the HO guidance likely to have changed to reflect – but I dont think that the primary legisaltion has changed???)

On the proofing thing, so am I right in thinking I would need to get it serviced/resotored and tested before I could take possesion of it? (assuming I had a license by then?) If so what might be a ball park figure?

Doubtful unless it’s a blunderbuss.

I’ve not come across proofing as an issue for modern hammerless breech loaders…

Had a few black powder guns in the family where it has been an issue – pitting due to the corrosive nature of black powder burning

TuckerUK – Member
To reactivate a gun so deactivated you’d need proper workshop facilities, and original (FAC only) parts to repair it.

I’m at a bit of a loss as to understand what components of a shotgun require a FAC??? 😯

anagallis_arvensis – Member
On the proofing thing, so am I right in thinking I would need to get it serviced/resotored and tested before I could take possesion of it? (assuming I had a license by then?) If so what might be a ball park figure?

No – proof is only to show it is safe to use nothing to do with ownership. Re-proofing is about £40-50. Send to proofhouse (Birmingham) they fire a whopping big charge through it, if gun is still in one piece then it passes proof.

I’m prob very near you, lots of experience, happy to help further in person or email / phone etc if you want. Can recommend a good local gunsmith who would take a look and tell you what you’ve got. Mail in profile.

Firstly, because the Home Office guidance (if correctly quoted) seems to describe a rebuttable presumption in favour of granting a shotgun certificate, not a rebuttable presumption against granting one.

I stand corrected, said the man in the orthopaedic shoes. I’m surprised at BASC making such a basic error…

Went to view the house we are thinking of buying with a builder today and **** me if it hasnt got a gun box bolted to the wall!