Transitional provision in respect of possession of former antique firearms
3.—(1) Paragraphs (2) to (4) apply where—
(a)immediately before the commencement date a person possesses a firearm that is an antique firearm for the purpose of section 58(2) of the 1968 Act(1), and
(b)in consequence of the coming into force of section 126 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017, the firearm ceases to be an antique firearm for those purposes.
(2) Section 1(1)(a) of the 1968 Act does not apply in relation to the possession of the firearm—
(a)by the person where—
(i)the person has applied before the end of the transitional period for a firearm certificate under section 26A of the 1968 Act(2) or to vary such a certificate under section 29 of the 1968 Act(3), and
(ii)either that application is still being processed or any appeal in respect of it has not been determined;
(b)by the persons responsible for the management of a museum and their servants, where—
(i)in respect of that museum an application has been made before the end of the transitional period for a museum firearms licence or to vary such a licence under the Schedule to the 1988 Act(4), and
(ii)that application is still being processed;
(c)by the person or their servants where—
(i)the person has applied before the end of the transitional period to register as a firearms dealer under section 33 of the 1968 Act(5), and
(ii)either that application is still being processed or any appeal in respect of it has not been determined.
(3) Section 2(1) of the 1968 Act does not apply in relation to the possession of the firearm—
(a)by the person where—
(i)the person has applied before the end of the transitional period for a shot gun certificate under section 26B of the 1968 Act(6), and
(ii)either that application is still being processed or any appeal in respect of it has not been determined;
(b)by the persons responsible for the management of a museum and their servants where—
(i)in respect of that museum an application has been made before the end of the transitional period for a museum firearms licence or to vary such a licence under the Schedule to the 1988 Act, and
(ii)that application is still being processed;
(c)by the person or their servants where—
(i)the person has applied before the end of the transitional period to register as a firearms dealer under the 1968 Act, and
(ii)either that application is still being processed or any appeal in respect of it has not been determined.
(4) Section 5(1), (1A) and (2A)(c) of the 1968 Act(7) does not apply in relation to the possession of the firearm by the person where the person—
(a)carries on a business as a firearms dealer(8) and possesses the firearm for the purposes of the business, and
(b)has applied for authorisation of the Secretary of State or the Scottish Ministers in accordance with section 5 of the 1968 Act before the end of the transitional period and that application is still being processed.
Section 58(2) was amended by section 110(2) of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (c. 12) (“the 2014 Act”).
Section 26A was inserted by section 37 of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 (c. 5) (“the 1997 Act”).
Section 29 was amended by paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 2 to the 1997 Act.
The Schedule was amended by section 47 of the 1997 Act and S.I. 1999/1750.
Section 33 was amended by section 13(1) of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 (c. 45) (“the 1988 Act”) and section 42(2) of the 1997 Act.
Section 26B was inserted by section 37 of the 1997 Act.
Section 5 was amended by section 1(2) and (3) of the 1988 Act; section 1 of, and Schedule 3 to, the 1997 Act; sections 1 and 2(7) of, and the Schedule to, the Firearms (Amendment) (No 2) Act 1997 (c. 64); sections 108(2) to (4), (9) and 109(1) of the 2014 Act; section 129(2) of the Policing and Crime Act 2017; section 54(1) to (4) of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 (c. 17) and S.I. 1992/2823.
“firearms dealer” is defined in section 57(4) of the Firearms Act 1968 (c. 27).