Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997

13 Permits to have small-calibre pistols outside licensed pistol clubs

(1) A person whose firearm certificate for a small-calibre pistol is held subject to a condition that the pistol must be kept at licensed premises of a licensed pistol club may make an application in the prescribed form to the chief officer of police for the area in which he resides for a permit under this section authorising a person specified in the permit to have the pistol in his possession outside those premises for any proper purpose.

(2) A permit under this section shall not, unless the circumstances appear to the chief officer of police to be exceptional, authorise any holder of a firearm certificate which relates to the pistol to have the pistol with him in any place other than the licensed premises of a licensed pistol club or the premises at which a designated target shooting competition specified in the permit is being held.

(3) A proper purpose for having a small-calibre pistol outside the licensed premises at which it is required to be kept may be any of the following, namely—

(a) conveying the pistol to those premises following—

(i) the release of the pistol from police custody under Schedule 1 to this Act;

(ii) the purchase or acquisition of the pistol; or

(iii) a change in the licensed premises at which the pistol is required to be kept;

(b) having the pistol repaired or maintained by a registered firearms dealer;

(c) enabling the pistol to be used at a designated target shooting competition;

(d) selling or otherwise disposing of the pistol; or

(e) any other purpose which appears to the chief officer of police to be proper in all the circumstances.

(4) Where a person makes an application under subsection (1) above in relation to a pistol, the chief officer of police may, if he thinks fit, grant a permit in the prescribed form; and any such permit—

(a) shall specify the purpose for which it is granted and the name of any person who is authorised by the permit to have the pistol in his possession; and

(b) shall be granted subject to such conditions as the chief officer of police thinks necessary to secure that such possession will not endanger the public safety or the peace;

and any conditions may include a time by which the pistol must be taken or returned to the licensed premises specified in the applicant’s firearm certificate.

(5) It is an offence—

(a) for a person to fail to comply with any condition contained in a permit under this section which authorises him to have a small-calibre pistol in his possession; or

(b) for a person knowingly or recklessly to make any statement which is false in a material particular for the purpose of procuring (whether for himself or another) the grant of a permit under this section.

(6) In proceedings against any person for an offence under subsection (5)(a) above, it shall be a defence for him to prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.

(7) An offence under subsection (5) above shall be punishable on summary conviction with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or both.

(8) Where any person authorised by a permit under this section to be in possession of a small-calibre pistol outside the licensed premises of a licensed pistol club has the pistol in his possession outside those premises for a purpose authorised by the permit—

(a) he shall not be guilty of an offence under section 19A of the 1968 Act; and

(b) his possession of the pistol outside those premises shall not without more be regarded as a failure to comply with the conditions to which any firearm certificate relating to the pistol is subject.

(9) The Secretary of State may by order designate such target shooting competitions as he thinks fit for the purposes of this section.

(10) This section applies to a person holding a visitor’s firearm permit relating to a small-calibre pistol as it applies to a person holding a firearm certificate, except that any application for a permit under this section by the holder of a visitor’s firearm permit shall be made to the chief officer of police who granted the visitor’s firearm permit.