NORTHAMPTONSHIRE POLICE
REGISTERED FIREARMS DEALERS INFORMATION
The information set out in this pack is for the guidance of Registered Firearms Dealers (RFD’s). It is not intended to be a substitute for familiarity with the appropriate legislation, which are:
Firearms Acts 1968-1997
Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003
Control of Explosives Regulations 1991
Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005
Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006
and other HSE legislation.
Where possible we have highlighted the relevant Section or Regulation and recommend that you refer to that piece of legislation.
WHO CAN BE A REGISTERED FIREARMS DEALER (RFD)?
Section 33(2) of the Firearms Act sets out that the Chief Officer of Police will enter on to the Statutory Register the names of any persons including bodies corporate who have, or propose to have, a place of business in the police area, completes the application form (Firearms Form 116), and pays the prescribed fee unless:
a. They are prohibited by a Court under Section 45 of the Firearms Act from being registered. All offences must be disclosed even if you think that they are spent.
b. The Chief Officer of Police is satisfied that they cannot be permitted to carry on business as a dealer in firearms without a danger to the public safety or the peace; or
c. The Chief Officer of Police is satisfied that the applicant will not engage in business as a firearms dealer to a substantial extent or as an essential part of other trades, businesses or professions.
The Chief Officer of Police will enter into thorough background checks of all applicants or the officers of a body corporate to establish their good character, their knowledge and experience of firearms, the security of their premises and their personal and professional conduct. These checks are carried out by the Firearms Licensing Unit (FLU).
A business plan must be submitted with any RFD application.
Types of dealership
Section 57(4) of the Firearms Act 1968 gives an interpretation of a firearms dealer as meaning a person who by way of trade or business manufactures, sells, transfers, repairs, tests or proves firearms or ammunition to which Section 1 of this Act applies or shotguns.
Section 31 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 makes it an offence for anyone to sell or transfer weapons that are classified under Section 1(3)(b) of the Firearms Act 1968 as air weapons, their component parts or detachable sound moderators by way of trade or business, unless they are registered with the Chief Officer of Police for their area as a firearms dealer.
Transfer includes letting on hire, giving, lending or parting with possession and the Act requires dealers to keep a register of air weapon transactions. The Firearms (Amendment) Rules 2007 outline the details to be recorded in the firearm dealers register.
Note – Auctioneers cannot sell air weapons unless they are an RFD.
Further information regarding registration as a dealer and the sales of air weapons can be found in the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) Guide to the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006.
Good reason
The requirements in the above paragraph (c) provide for those persons who need to purchase, possess or transfer firearms or ammunition as part of their trade, business or profession to be registered as dealers.
Substantial business
Any body who proposes to become an RFD must be able to show that they can enter into a substantial business. This will be measured by the volume of transactions and context of the business during the period of registration. The dealership must not be used to facilitate private collections of firearms and shotguns, nor should it be used to provide a service to friends and associates. Levels of business will be discussed and agreed during the planned interview.
Registered Firearms Dealer Visit Following Initial Application
The Firearms Licensing Manager (FLM) a Firearms Enquiry Officer (FEO) and a Crime Prevention Officer will make a planned visit to the RFD and matters regarding the safe keeping of firearms and ammunition will be discussed, with measures for security being agreed.
Knowledge
The applicant must be able to demonstrate their experience and knowledge of firearms including safe handling and storage. They should be able to demonstrate a basic knowledge of firearms legislation relating to their particular sphere of business.
Planning permission
If you are applying to run a dealership from home, planning permission may be required. You should contact your local Planning Office for advice.
PLACE OF BUSINESS
Security
Dealers security can generally be divided into three areas:
a. Retail shop premises – display
b. Stock secure storage
c. Dealers operating from home
Full guidance on the higher level of security that would be expected for a firearms dealership can be found in the Home Office produced booklet Firearms Security Handbook 2005. During the planned visit the security arrangements will be discussed and agreed. However every business premises where firearms are stored should be protected by a confirmed technology alarm system to PD6662/DD243(2004) which is monitored.
An RFD may repair or restore firearms rather than sell them, this would be reviewed during the visit and a level of security agreed.
Applicants for a dealership for the selling of air weapons only may be required to install “reasonable precautions‟ or to level 1 of the Home Office Firearms Security Handbook 2005. Each case will be decided on its merits.
Storage of ammunition
As a matter of good practice Section 1 ammunition should be kept securely and apart from firearms. Although secure storage of shotgun cartridges is not required by the Firearms Act it should be locked away for both security and safety reasons. For further guidance on the safe storage of ammunition the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005 should be consulted. If the dealer only plans to store ammunition then the local Trading Standards (or Fire & Rescue Service) should be consulted.
Storage of shooters’ powders
Shooters’ powder means
a) Black powder
b) Smokeless powder
c) Any other substance or preparation based on potassium nitrate or nitro-cellulose whether in powder, pellet or granular form used or to be used as a propellant.
For further guidance on the storage of shooters’ powder the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005 should be consulted.
If an RFD plans to store shooters’ powder the Explosives Liaison Officer (ELO)for Northamptonshire should be contacted.
Should you wish to store shooters’ powder outside of Northamptonshire then the ELO for that area should be contacted. A national list of Explosives Liaison Officers can be found on the HSE web site at www.hse.gov.uk/explosives/elo.htm.
Additional places of business
An RFD must register all places of business with the Chief Officer of Police for the area in which they are located. FLU Staff consult each other in cases of this kind but the conditions of registration should be appropriate to each premises according to their circumstances and therefore need not be the same in each area. Where a dealer requires to register another place of business, then they should contact the relevant FLU for that area. Where there is a change in circumstances regarding a place of business, for example, the dealer plans to move premises or cease trading, they must consult the FLU for the new area.
RECORD KEEPING FOR FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION
RFD’s are required by Section 40 of the Firearms Act to provide and keep a register of transactions and shall enter or shall cause to be enterred therein the particulars specified in Schedule 4 to this Act and Rule 10(4) of the Firearms Rules 1998.
From 31 December 2014 an electronic register is required; this could be as simple as a spreadsheet.
It is an offence to knowingly make any false entry into the register. All alterations or corrections should be made with a single line through the entry to be amended with the initials of the person who is making the alteration. Correcting fluid or other mediums of alteration should not be used and under no circumstances should a page or parts of a page be removed from the register.
The dealer is required to maintain a further register recording all transactions of Section 1 ammunition. Best practice would be for each calibre and type of round to be entered separately in the register. The register should show ammunition being transferred in with details of the transaction. Separate entries should show transfer of ammunition out and a running stock total. Although firearms legislation does not require shotgun ammunition to be entered in to a register it would be best practice to adopt this method of recording transfers of shotgun ammunition.
Electronic register information, Schedule 2 of Section 8(b) of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 requires that the information can be readily produced in a format which is visible and legible and can be taken away. Daily backups of the data should be taken and stored in such a way as to preserve its integrity. Alternatively, the system should produce a daily hard copy of the entries which is dated and page numbered so that there is an effective audit trail.
The same record keeping is required for dealers who are registered to sell or transfer air weapons over 12 ft lbs.
The Firearms (Amendment) Rules 2007 prescribe the format for recording air gun sales and must include:
Class of air weapon (air rifle or air pistol)
Make, type or distinctive name of the air weapon
Calibre
Identification number or other distinguishing mark, if present
Manufacturers name, if known
Name and address of the person who purchased the airgun, or to whom it was transferred.
Component parts
The Firearms Consultative Committee recommended the following definition in their Sub-Group‟s 1998 Report:
The term “component part‟ shall apply to
(i) any barrel, chamber or cylinder
(ii) any frame, action, body or receiver
(iii) any breech, block, bolt, or other mechanism for containing the charge at the rear of the chamber;
(iv) any other part of the firearm upon which the pressure caused by firing the weapon impinges directly‟.
This matched the long-standing view that component parts should be pressure-bearing parts and the similar principle had been adopted by the EU Directive on this issue.
For the purposes only of Sections 3(1) and 45(2) of the 1968 Act and in the definition of firearms dealer in Section 57(4), the term shotgun also includes any component part of a shotgun and any accessory to a shotgun designed or adapted to diminish the noise or flash of firing the gun. For the purposes of all other sections/Acts a component part of a shotgun is not a shotgun. Component parts of air weapons are taken to mean any pressure-bearing part such as the barrel, cylinder or air reservoir/piston and valves from a pre-charged pneumatic or CO2 air gun.
TRANSFERS
Notification of transfers
In transferring firearms and shotguns to certificate holders firearms dealers are bound by Section 32(2)(b) of the 1997 Act, that is they must comply with any instruction contained in the certificate or permit produced by the transferee. For example, if the transferee only has authority for a .222 centre fire rifle then that is the only firearm the person has authority to purchase. Details of the transaction must be entered on Table 1 of the firearms certificate or on table 2 of the shotgun certificate as appropriate. The dealer must enter details of the transfer in the register within 24 hours of the transaction taking place.
Details of the transfer must be sent to the relevant FLU within seven days of the transfer by both the dealer and the certificate holder. When notifying transfers it is helpful to advise the source of the firearm, however this is not a legal requirement. It may be helpful to remind the certificate holder that it is their responsibility to make the notification, but a dealer MUST NOT undertake to effect notifications on behalf of the certificate holder.
Where the transaction involves a firearm or shotgun being transferred to the dealer then the details of the transaction must be entered into the register within 24 hours. There is no further requirement for the dealer to notify FLU. However, the certificate holder must notify the Chief Officer of Police within seven days.
The transfer of air weapons by way of trade or business must be face to face with the buyer or his representative as required by Section 32. RFDs may sell air guns to buyers at a distance but only through another RFD who will then ensure that the air gun is transferred face to face.
Dealer to dealer transfers
If the transaction involves a dealer to dealer transfer then all that is required of the dealer is to ensure that their register reflects the transaction within 24 hours. No further notification is needed.
No notification of the transfer of air weapons is currently required.
INSPECTIONS
On becoming a Registered Firearms Dealer you will be visited periodically by FLU Staff. Any officer who carries out these visits will be in possession of authority from the Chief Officer of Police to inspect registers.