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Essex Police have contacted the club secretary with the following request for information

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Date: 7 October 2020

OFFENSIVE WEAPONS ACT 2019: Surrender of Offensive Weapons (Compensation) Requlations 2020

Introduction

The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 introduced new prohibitions under the Firearms Act 1968 on certain rapid-firing rifles and “bump stocks”, which increase the rate of fire of self-loading rifles.

The prohibitions came into force with effect from, 16 May 2019, to the extent that they prohibited the manufacture, sale, transfer or acquisition of such weapons. The prohibition on possession will come into force at a later date, following the completion of the surrender and compensation arrangements.


The 2019 Act adds two new subsections to section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968. For certain rapid-firing rifles there is a new subsection 5(1)(ag) which prohibits:


any rifle with a chamber from which empty cartridge cases are extracted using—

(i) energy from propellant gas, or

(ii) energy imparted to a spring or other energy storage device by propellant gas,

other than a rifle which is chambered for .22 rim-fire cartridges. For “bump stocks” there is a new subsection 5(1)(ba) which prohibits:

any device (commonly known as a bump stock) which is designed or adapted so that—

(i) it is capable of forming part of or being added to a self-loading lethal barrelled weapon (as defined in section 57(1B) and (2A)), and

(ii) if it forms part of or is added to such a weapon, it increases the rate of fire of the weapon by using the recoil from the weapon to generate repeated pressure on the trigger.



Compensation and surrender arrangements


Sections 56 to 59 of the 2019 Act set out the surrender and compensation arrangements which must be followed before the prohibition on the possession of the above weapons can come into force. The arrangements are subject to secondary legislation before they can come into force.


Details on the arrangements for applying for compensation will be published in due course. These details will be published shortly and include who can apply for compensation, how they can apply, timescales for applications, what information owners need to supply to evidence ownership, and surrender arrangements.



Actions required by you.


Although we have investigated our data base, we are aware that some of the Lever Release or MARS action guns may have been catalogued as a different action e.g. Bolt action or under lever. Therefore, can we ask that you make enquiries with your members to identify if they possess any of the guns in question and either submit their answers through the club or directly to the firearms Licensing with the following information:

Surrender Scheme Notification:

Name:

Certificate No:

Weapon Make:

Serial Number:

Calibre:

Action:

Once we have the information regarding the compensation scheme, we will write to them individually explaining the process and also send them a copy of the relevant Offensive Weapons Act Surrender and Compensation Scheme Claim Form.

At the end of the compensation period if they are still in possession of any of the types of gun listed above then they are leaving themselves open to prosecution.

We are here to assist you and your members in any way we can and to make this process as easy and smooth as possible.

If you have any questions relating to the above the please do not hesitate to contact FSEL who will be happy to help.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Quinton

T/Firearms Licensing Manager

Firearms, Shot gun and Explosive Licensing Section.

So they want you to do their job? Not the club's job to find out what guns it's members might own.

Sent from my pink toy using "An application"

"We are here to assist you", trust me, honest injun!

As we say in Scotland,
"Aye, Right"!

Doesn't surprise me that they don't know what's out there. I've seen lever release rifles listed as bolt actions and lever actions on certificates.
The bigger question is who will they write to to identify the much larger number of owners of assisted opening knives, 'zombie' knives, batons etc. that have also been banned and need to be handed in?

The Event wrote:Doesn't surprise me that they don't know what's out there. I've seen lever release rifles listed as bolt actions and lever actions on certificates.
The bigger question is who will they write to to identify the much larger number of owners of assisted opening knives, 'zombie' knives, batons etc. that have also been banned and need to be handed in?

My Mateba, clearly a revolver action, is listed as a bolt action rifle on my FAC, and the RFD who did the transfer suggested that because it was the description on the previous owner's FAC too, and it might cause constipation were it to be changed.

And my AR is likewise a bolt action, which after a fashion is correct, but my K31 is a straight pull.

we got one as well

just a thought if they are classed assection 5 would the club be held responsible for one being shot at the range ?

I'm sure that Essex isn't the only force that doesn't know what's on it holder's Certificates.

One force up north wrote to all it's holders a few years ago, asking them to say what they currently held on their FAC's as all the Variation paperwork had been thrown away.

Triffid

To be honest i'm glad they are writing to the clubs-before the bill went though and even recently most shooters don't know that this change in law has even happened (including people who own affected firearms).

IN THEORY 95% of guns covered by this bill will be either the MARS of SGC Lever releases which technically means they could ask eaitehr vendor for a list of the guns they made/sold and then just trace them though the system-though given the state of the filing system most forces seem to use this evidently wouldn't be practical.

poll007 wrote:To be honest i'm glad they are writing to the clubs-before the bill went though and even recently most shooters don't know that this change in law has even happened (including people who own affected firearms).

IN THEORY 95% of guns covered by this bill will be either the MARS of SGC Lever releases which technically means they could ask eaitehr vendor for a list of the guns they made/sold and then just trace them though the system-though given the state of the filing system most forces seem to use this evidently wouldn't be practical.

As someone who worked for the company that at one time was tasked with 'fixing' NFLMS (I worked about 10 ft away from the developer re-writting a load of NFLMS code) you would not believe the state of the national 'filing' system.

This was over a decade ago so maybe it's all working ok now....

The problem is there ISN'T a NFLMS! There are numerous systems that are used to cobble it together and they aren't all compatible with each other! Some versions also don't let the FLD (or they've never been trained how to) add a new action type etc, they can only select from a drop down of pre-entered types. This was (one of) the reasons I had so much trouble with my force when I was applying for one (actually 3 )

Yeah so anyway, these guns that are SO dangerous the (vetted) public can't be trusted with them so they MUST be banned immediately without rhyme or reason, aaannndddd 15 months later they still haven't been required to be handed in...…