Gundog trainers are being reminded that certain blank firing pistols are now illegal following changes to UK firearms legislation.
Earlier this year, the Home Office confirmed that several Turkish top-venting blank firing pistols (TVBFPs) had been classified as prohibited weapons. Five specific models have been identified as being “readily convertible” to fire live ammunition and therefore fall under the prohibited category of the Firearms Act.
Possession of a prohibited weapon carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment.
Specialist firearms solicitor Laura Saunsbury questioned the government’s approach, telling Gun Trade Insider: “Virtually all blank firing weapons are based on an original live firearm, which they are designed to copy or replicate, and are therefore imitation firearms. So why is it that some models have now been singled out as ‘readily convertible’ imitation firearms?”
Saunsbury added that she was only aware of one case where a member of the gun trade had been investigated for selling TVBFPs since the National Crime Agency’s initial announcement in October 2024, an incident that occurred on the same day the advisory letter was circulated.
An amnesty for TVBFPs will take place in February 2026. In the meantime, those who possess one of the affected models are advised to surrender it at a police station or safely destroy it using an angle grinder or hacksaw.