proofing a deac in the uk

**m3bobby** · 01-28-2010, 12:57 PM

by Adrian Stevenson

The person I contacted was Tony Budge, a section 5 firearms dealer and de-act trader here in the UK. The barrel length is stated on the deact cert.

I am always concerned with people asking for legal advice here. We are the wrong people to ask. I will always err on the side of caution. This is serious stuff and no one should rely on anyone's word here, however good the intentions, as we are not the people to ask. You need to contact the proper authorities on legal matters.

Cheers, Ade.

I know Tony up at Rytons, nice bloke, got plenty of time to chat with you.

I agree with you on the advice, there dosnt appear to be much clarity in law, to the point where even the home office and the police don't know. All the experts can do is advise, its the courts who decide your fate!

**andy123** · 01-28-2010, 06:15 PM

Hello Ryan,

I can assure you 100% that it is a criminal offence to shorten (ie cut down) the barrels of a shotgun. A conviction for this offence or possession of such a shotgun would guarantee a spell inside.

Andy

**Mick** · 01-28-2010, 07:58 PM

by andy123

Hello Ryan,

I can assure you 100% that it is a criminal offence to shorten (ie cut down) the barrels of a shotgun. A conviction for this offence or possession of such a shotgun would guarantee a spell inside.

Andy

I agree with you 100%.

What we are discussing here is not a shotgun but a non gun, a piece of scrap metal.

**badchild** · 01-28-2010, 08:04 PM

No probs, cheers for the advice

**phoenix** · 01-28-2010, 08:28 PM

This is the 1995 Home Deactivation guide lines document, the relevant sections are (xxii) & (xxiii).

**andy123** · 01-28-2010, 09:25 PM

The problem is that in the eyes of the law (legislation) it is not a piece of scrap iron. It is a deactivated shotgun. Simplistically speaking, for it to be declared deactivated, at some point an expert (person whose opinion can be accepted as evidence in court) has declared that it is no longer capable of being fired (again I am simplifying the matter).
Once that deactivated shotgun, or other weapon, has been messed around with (ie, by having the barrel sawn off), it is then a matter of expert opinion regarding the question, is it still deactivated? That expert would undoubtedly be the Police armourer, as the "object" may have been seized pending a possible prosecution!
There are a number of other issues that should be considered. Why would anybody want a sawn off shotgun (deactivated or otherwise), and can it be justified within War Relics? If I'm questioning that you could be very sure that any prosecuting authorities would be asking the same question.
This would be compounded by the location (Northern Ireland) for obvious reasons!
It might be obvious from the above that I do have some experience in this field.
Andy

**Adrian Stevenson** · 01-28-2010, 10:03 PM

Thank you Andy. These would be my concerns too.

I wish to make the postition of the forum very clear here: We done not encourage or condone anyone to break the Law of the land they are living in.

Cheers, Ade.

**badchild** · 01-28-2010, 11:35 PM

I wish to make the postition of the forum very clear here: We done not encourage or condone anyone to break the Law of the land they are living in.

Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of breaking the law, I was just wondering if it could be done legally and if it couldn't then the plan would be abandoned, I've too much too lose.

Code:

and can it be justified within War Relics?

Wouldn't think so, but I wouldn't class it as a war relic anyway, just a curio item

**Mick** · 01-29-2010, 12:02 AM

You need a certificate for a deactivated gun ! WTF !!!

**HARRY THE MOLE** · 01-29-2010, 12:23 PM

by Mick

You need a certificate for a deactivated gun ! WTF !!!

I have just been looking for a letter I had from the Home Office several years ago covering the ownership of deactivated weapons. It stated that weapons COULD be owned without the certificate, as long as the proof-house stamps were on the gun and the deactivation had been carried out in the prescribed manner.They accepted that certificates do tend to get mislaid. I still have a gun which was purchased without a certificate, it carries the D/A stamps and is legal as far as the law is concerned.

It gets a bit 'iffy' when you start to tamper with them and 'undo' some of the deactivation work. I recall someone in Liverpool unblocking the barrel of a Bren so that he could 'clean it a bit better'. They came down on him like a ton of bricks. It never pays to tamper with a deactivated gun, the cost of doing so could prove to be extremely high!

Harry.