You surprise me. I have never applied for a license, so I don't know the
details, but I had been informed that pump action weapons and automatic
weapons were unlicensable except to the armed forces and the police.
Care to educate us as to he levels of licensing? Or do you just want to
appear superior
?
Nope, I'll quite happily tell you and have no specific desire to be
condescending, just to ensure you understand the facts in question
There are two classes of firearms certificate FAC available to the
general public. Section 1 and Section 2.
Section 2 firearms are what you would class a shotgun. The legal
definition of a shotgun is a smooth bored gun (i.e. does not contain
rifling which is internal spiraling found inside the barrel of a rifle
which spins the bullet) and meets the following criteria - has a barrel
length of not less than 24 inches, and a bore of two inches or less in
diameter.
* does not have a magazine, or has a non-detachable magazine which
cannot hold more than two cartridges.
* is not a revolver gun (i.e. a gun containing a series of chambers
which revolve when the gun is fired).
You'll be familiar with side-by-side and over and under shotguns, which
have a 2-shot capacity, i.e. 1 in each chamber. It's also permissable
to have a pump or semi-auto shotgun on a shotgun/section 2 certificate
provided that gun has a total capacity of no more than 3 shots - i.e.
one in the chamber and 2 in the magazine. There is no specific limit on
the number of guns that can be held on a shotgun certificate, provided
you have secure storage for them. You may be interested to know that it
is not compulsory under law to store shotgun cartridges securely,
though people do out of respect and common sense.
Section 1 shotguns are effectively the same as the above, still with
the same dimensions and smooth bore, yet can have a capacity of more
than 3 rounds - this is usually accomplished by having a tubular
magazine under the barrel, though some such as the Saiga can have
detachable magazines.
In English law, it is actually your right to have a shotgun
certificate, unless the police are able to prove otherwise. A Firearms
certificate is different - you must show good reason to have one and
also demonstrate good reason to acquire every gun on it. This can be
for target shooting or vermin control, for instance and you will also
need to be able to prove you have land to shoot over, unless you have
one solely for target shooting. When you apply for a FAC, you need to
specifically list each calibre of rifle you wish to apply for, together
with its intended use.
Firearms law in the UK can be somewhat arcane and often over-
complicated....
