Transferring/Selling a Weapon
All firearms and shotguns possessed by certificate holders are recorded by the Police.
There are specific rules on the transfer of guns as follows:
- All transfers of firearms and shotguns should be in person. This includes ammunition (Section 1). This means that no sale or transfer of a gun can be by post unless a dealer is involved in the transaction, but the dealer then has the responsibility of handing over any gun in person.
- The person transferring any gun should satisfy themselves that the new owner is a valid certificate holder and authorised to acquire the gun. This in simple terms means that the person buying the gun must produce a valid certificate to enable the transferor to endorse the details of the transaction on the reverse of the certificate. It is also advisable that the transferee checks the certificate of the person selling the gun to ensure that the gun is in fact a legally held firearm.
- Both parties then need to notify the police (the Chief Officer of Police by whom the certificate was issued) of the transaction, giving full details of the gun and details of all parties involved. The timescales for written notification to the police of such a transaction is within seven days of the date of the sale. (Click here for an example of notification (.pdf, 28KB)).
- In the case of shotguns, you may loan a shotgun to another certificate holder for up to 72 hours without going through the above process, but any time longer than 72 hours, you will need to notify the police as at (3) above. It is reasonable to ensure the person receiving the gun on loan, has adequate security for that gun during the period of loan.
- If a gun which is legally held is subsequently deactivated a certificate holder must notify the police accordingly.
- Similarly if a gun is lost, destroyed or indeed stolen, the certificate holder must notify the police immediately.
- With a firearm certificate the buyer must be authorised to acquire any gun. The transferor must check the certificate if there is no specific authority for a particular gun then the buyer will need to apply for a variation to his certificate. If the variation results in an increase in guns held there will be a fee of £26 payable to the police. Any variation will be subject to the 'good reason' requirement as previously mentioned.
