New guy from UK with awkward question.
Hi all, as you can see from the title I am new to this forum. I have a tricky question for the UK boys mainly as it is relevent only to UK laws. Well here goes; I have recently been bequeathed a Stealth rifle old school (pre anti-tamper), the kindly gent who gave me this gun has always claimed that the rifle was a FAC gun. I don’t hold an FAC. Here in lies my problem, and I told him so. He said that he has got the gun un-registered and I would be alright to own the rifle. Now I have since read somewhere that ‘once an FAC always an FAC’ which means I can’t own said gun. Now here’s the really tricky bit; this fellow is prone to fibbing sometime and the gun may never have been registered as FAC. I am aware that you can easily tweak the gun to shoot hot.
Now here is my question; can I easily find out if this gun is FAC or not? Thanks for being patient with me and reading all my ramble and all input and info gratfully received. G
All Replies
Give your local firearms officer/police a call, give them the serial number and I they are able to tell you if it is on a ticket.
Wink
I suppose I should trust the guy who gifted me the rifle as he is my father in common law. It is reasuring to know that some authorities will down grade a firearm and maybe this occured in this case. I didnt feel to good going hunting with the rifle being unsure. However I will only use it resposably and always make sure its in legal power, and only ever use it on my permissions. It will be nice to use a PCP rather than the springer (cometa) I have. Now to moding the Stealth. 😀
Some Police force area’s will “un”FAC an air rifle,,,and as far as I am aware,,West Yorks is one of them,,but it is not the case everywhere. As I see it,,,asking for a data base check from your firearms department may well cause more problems than it solves.
You have bought it in good faith at less than 12ft/lbs and have checked to verify this. Providing you use it in a responsible way,,on land you have permission to shoot on then I do not see any problems for you. However,,,should an incident occur which requires the Police to remove your gun for checking,,and it comes to light that that it has not been officially downgraded to 12ft/lbs from FAC then the seller will have to answer some awkward questions.
If you ask,,,you may lose the rifle and the seller will have problems. On the other hand,,if he is telling the truth,,,you are at the start of a wonderfull adventure which is called Stealth !!
if you have shot it over a crony and done the math which says it a legal air gun (under 12fpe) then you have just answered your question. if the cops talk to you about it play dumb and tell them it is shooting within the legal perimeters and it was giving to you as a gift.
Thanks for all the advice everyone. 🙂 I would ask to look at his FAC but he has already told me that he sent it off to have it ammended. I would also confront his assertion that the gun can be un registered from FAC to just an air gun, however I dont want to look a gift horse in the mouth. The gun is defintly shooting under 12fpe as I have set it myself, testing with a variety of pellets. Are FAC firearms on a database, and could I check if this gun is on the data base using its serial number? I may try to get an FAC soon anyway so this could all be accademic anyway.
Thanks again for the info, and howdee to all my cousins from over the pond 😀 G
Risking Jail for a BB Gun is not worth it.
But this might be
The law is the law and if the law states 12flb. you better be prepared rather then sorry.
no they don,t come to your home,s unless there doing a check on your fac ticket and ammo check . but if your oout shooting and get srtopped they can take the rifle off u to get it checked and if it,s ever a tad over 12 ftbl your off to jail for sure .[/quote
Thats not the case at all,,,there have been NO cases in the UK of a person being imprisoned for simply being in possession of an air rifle that is over 12ft/lbs.
Nor is it correct that having a criminal conviction precludes you from being granted a FAC. It depends entirely on the nature of the offence and how far in the past it occurred. Lots of responsible shooters have had a colourfull past,,,but have since grown up and now behave themselves.
wouldn,t be too sure about that mate i know a lad who,s been told not to bother putting in for his fac .he phoned to ask aboout getting a forum for it and was told there and then not to bother because off stuff he done a while back .
if u have an air rifle thats over 12ftbl then it become,s a fire arm no longer a air rifle mate . u get cought with it and see what happends
no they don,t come to your home,s unless there doing a check on your fac ticket and ammo check . but if your oout shooting and get srtopped they can take the rifle off u to get it checked and if it,s ever a tad over 12 ftbl your off to jail for sure .[/quote
Thats not the case at all,,,there have been NO cases in the UK of a person being imprisoned for simply being in possession of an air rifle that is over 12ft/lbs.
Nor is it correct that having a criminal conviction precludes you from being granted a FAC. It depends entirely on the nature of the offence and how far in the past it occurred. Lots of responsible shooters have had a colourfull past,,,but have since grown up and now behave themselves.
u need to apply for a fca here and if u have any convictions u won,t get one . as i said i,m had my fac officer pop around for time to time to check on my stuff and my ammo as were on,y alound a certain amount at the one time .pretty crap but it,s the law
I hope you can just get it adjusted to within spec and keep it.
Or.. just part it out and sell it a piece at a time and purchase something legal.
Or… trade it with someone with an FAC for a gun that you can have.
So, what does it take to btain a FAC?
no they don,t come to your home,s unless there doing a check on your fac ticket and ammo check . but if your oout shooting and get srtopped they can take the rifle off u to get it checked and if it,s ever a tad over 12 ftbl your off to jail for sure .
Could you not ask this chap to show you his Firearms Certificate ? That may answer some of the worries you have, because the gun will either be on there or not. If its not there,,I would get it onto a chrono as soon as possible and,if needed,,get it turned down to 12 ft/lbs.
The concern about the 5 yr mandatory sentence is not really an issue because there is no record whatsoever of this being awarded in the UK. If you get caught doing something exceptionally stupid with your air rifle then there is a fair chance that it will be tested by the Police to confirm that it is under the 12 ft/lb limit. The consequences of it being over the limit are usually confiscation/destruction,,,,plus any punishment for whatever you were doing which caused Police involvment. Just being in possession of an over the limit air rifle won’t have you sharing a cell with a new huband for 5 years.
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Interesting and not the first time I have come accross this problem
Stealth’s in the UK are Jail bait as the Police are aware that they are very easy to upgrade above the UK unlicensed Sub 12FP Rule
And if they come accross one – send it off for testing 😳
There is a good chance that it was never registered as a FAC
but just upgraded
In the UK a Dealer is legally required to keep any gun over the sub 12FP Rule and pass it onto the Police
Who could offer to destroy it or prosecute you, if found to be a FAC
rated Gun and you not having it on ticket
Trouble is once you have it or used it you are liable
You could apply and get a FAC only to find it was not or worth to bother
Try and find a local FAC Shooter who can assist and test it for you
BOB/R