The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Sale, transfer, gift etc of and pre-April 2016 deact is unlawful, within the EU. (This still includes us as the legislation was absorbed into domestic law, until a time that it is repealed) They can be sold to museums if that museum has appropriate licensing. All pre 2016 can be sold outside of the U.K./EU.

If someone in Russia buys that, no issue. Someone in Rutland buys it, offences committed. No offence in it being offered for sale.

I got a few matching accessories to go with my Browning 1919:

If they are Pre-95 Spec deacts they cannot be sold in the UK.

https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listi ... attachment for anyone that wants to upscale in owning a deac.... or can either get 155 shells & a heck of a lot of powder to reload..............

The law around deacts currently has been constantly changing for the last few years. Currently pre 2016 examples are illegal to be sold or given away but a large illicit market exists. There is also a push to register all deacts with the home office with notifications of possession and transfers having to be sent to the Serious Violence unit.
The new laws are especially problematic as passing old spec deacts to relatives after a person has died as unless they have been brought up to the new standard that is illegal. This is not widely known outside of the firearms community and contacting a specialist RFD to collect a rusty wall hanger is not going to be high on the list of most people's list of priorities when there is a death in the family.
Currently the advice with most re-enactment groups i work with is to go for a FAC if possible as the feeling is that deacts will be going on to some form of certificate soon anyway. Some authorities are insisting on a year's full membership of a re-enactment group before they will grant a certificate.
My group keep a few post 2016 deact SMLEs (bitsas made from condemned parts) for use by new members, or in educational displays. If we are working on films generally we all have to carry deacts for safety/insurance reasons.

Notification – transfer

19. Under Regulation 2, a person transferring a deactivated firearm to another person is required to give notice of the transfer to the appropriate national authority as set out below either before the transfer takes place or, as soon as reasonably practicable after the transfer - but only when the transfer is for a period of more than 14 days.

20. The requirement to notify the transfer of a deactivated firearm applies to all transfers of deactivated firearms for a period of 14 days or more on or after 12 December 2019.

21. The person transferring the deactivated firearm must send the following information to the Home Office:

a description of the deactivated firearm which must include, if known, the make, calibre and serial number of the firearm
details of the name and address of:
the person giving notice
the person to whom the deactivated firearm has been, or will be, transferred

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... rules-2019

450 Martini wrote:The new laws are especially problematic as passing old spec deacts to relatives after a person has died as unless they have been brought up to the new standard that is illegal. This is not widely known outside of the firearms community and contacting a specialist RFD to collect a rusty wall hanger is not going to be high on the list of most people's list of priorities when there is a death in the family.

Its not widely known within many in the firearms community
(outside of those dealers etc that actually sell/trade in de-acts and as you say, the re-enactment world)

Deactivating laws and requirements are quite complex. We always have a reasonable number of guns coming in for deactivating and the log we keep has more columns than the RFD log and certainly takes longer to complete.

There are some interesting bits to take into account as well...

I guess that there are two types of civilians for whom deacts have an appeal:

1. Those who once served in the forces and used fully functional versions of these firearms.

2. Those who never had the chance to own the real thing, either by virtue of not being old enough to enjoy them, back when they were actually legal, (hand guns / semi-auto centerfire) or would never have passed a medical in order to join the armed forces/police etc.

I can see the importance of keeping examples in museums. But I personally wouldn't want a "butchered gun" unless there was some family / sentimental history to it.

I must admit that if my Euromillions numbers ever come in I’ll be having a deactivated DShK on top of my T-62!