Section 5(2) provides that weapons and ammunition of a number of different types, specified in subsections (1) and (1A), are ‘prohibited weapons’ and ‘prohibited ammunition’ respectively. Many air weapons are powered by internal reservoirs of compressed gas, or carbon dioxide canisters these are not self-contained gas cartridge systems. The entire cartridge is then inserted into a chamber in the firearm’s barrel, or cylinder in the case of a revolver type firearm. Prior to shooting, each cartridge is pre-filled with sufficient compressed gas for one shot and has a missile seated in the front of the cartridge. Each cartridge is a self-contained gas reservoir housed inside a cartridge case with an internal valve designed to release the content when the base of the cartridge is struck. A self-contained gas cartridge system is one in which pressurised propellant gas is stored in a cartridge which also contains the missile.
Note that any air weapon which uses, or is designed or adapted for use with, a self-contained gas cartridge system is a prohibited weapon: section 5(1)(af). it is “capable of discharging a missile so that the missile has, on being discharged from the muzzle of the weapon, kinetic energy in excess, in the case of an air pistol of 6ft lbs or, in the case of an air weapon other than an air pistol, 12ft lbs” (unless it is designed for use only when submerged in water) or.Rules 2 and 3 of the Firearms (Dangerous Air Weapons) Rules 1969 provide that an air weapon is specially dangerous where: Such air weapons are exempt from the requirement for a certificate under section 1 (see below under “Possession of Firearms and Shotguns Without a Certificate”). This will include, for example paintball guns. Air WeaponsĪn air weapon is defined under section 1(3)(b) and 57(4) as "an air rifle, air gun or air pistol which does not fall within section 5(1)(a) and which is not of a type declared by rules made by the Secretary of State under section 53 of the Firearms Act to be specially dangerous". Shot guns are exempt from the requirement for a certificate under section 1, but are subject to a separate requirement for a certificate under section 2 (see below under ‘Possession of Firearms and Shotguns Without a Certificate’). either has no magazine or has a non-detachable magazine incapable of holding more than two cartridges and.does not have any barrel with a bore exceeding 2 inches in diameter.has a barrel not less than 24 inches in length.Shot GunsĪ shot gun is defined under section 1(3)(a) and 57(4) as “a smooth-bore gun (not being an air gun) which”: These cases pre-date the 2017 amendment of section 57 which introduced the definition of a “lethal barrelled weapon” by reference to the kinetic energy of the missile at the muzzle it is now necessary to call evidence of this rather than of lethality. 365, where the conviction was quashed as there was no evidence that the air rifle could have been fired. Reported cases do not as a matter of law establish that certain types of weapons are “lethal barrelled weapons”, and it is accordingly necessary to call evidence proving that the definition in section 57(1B) is met: Grace v DPP (1989) Crim. 724, CA, which involved an evidential dispute as to whether a flare launcher was barrelled. Whether something is a “lethal barrelled weapon” is a question of fact e.g. Section 57(1C) excludes from the definition of a "lethal barrelled weapon" any weapon meeting the definition of "airsoft gun" under section 57A. Section 57(1B) defines a "lethal barrelled weapon" as a "barrelled weapon of any description from which a shot, bullet or other missile, with kinetic energy of more than one joule as measured at the muzzle of the weapon, can be discharged".
an accessory to a lethal barrelled weapon or a prohibited weapon where the accessory is designed or adapted to diminish the noise or flash caused by firing the weapon.a relevant component part in relation to a lethal barrelled weapon or a prohibited weapon, as defined in section 57(1D) or.a prohibited weapon, as defined under section 5.a lethal barrelled weapon, as defined under section 57(1B).Section 57(1) defines a firearm as any of the following: The particular type of firearm determines which offences under the Act will be applicable. The Firearms Act 1968 defines firearms generally but also creates a number of sub-categories of firearm, namely shot guns, air weapons and prohibited weapons.