BASC has submitted its response to a Home Office consultation on new legislation on antique firearms.
The key points the association makes in its consultation response are:
• BASC has responded positively to the proposed new legislation on antique firearms and will be meeting with the Home office early in 2018 to discuss its recommendations.
• BASC has welcomed the provision of a definitive list of accepted obsolete calibres and ignition methods as this will allow a firearm of a calibre and type subsequently not accepted as antique to be added to a firearm or shotgun certificate.
• BASC recommends that 1951 be used for setting the upper limit for the date of manufacture of an antique firearm.
• BASC recommends that the new regulations be reviewed at least once every three years.
• BASC supports the setting up of an antique firearms reference group, which should be statutory in nature, and has offered its assistance to that group.
Bill Harriman, BASC’s director of firearms, said: “BASC supports the introduction of a legal definition for an antique firearm as it will import clarity and thus certainty into a very grey area of the law.
“The Home Office consultation includes some very sensible proposals that will enshrine in law what has been informal practice for many years.
“That said, if the government wants to licence any firearm which can currently be freely owned, then it must adduce evidence to show that this represents a significant threat to public safety.”
BASC chairman Peter Glenser said: “BASC’s position is ‘No Evidence – No Change’. The government’s proposal to establish an expert panel to keep the matter of antique firearms under regular review is especially helpful.”