Readers will no doubt be aware that as the law stands currently the definition of a section one firearm includes any accessory designed or adapted to diminish the noise or flash caused by firing the weapon. Consequently, sound moderators and flash suppressors (also referred to as flash hiders) for any section one firearm or prohibited firearm have required a specific authority to acquire on your customer’s firearm certificate before you can sell them one of these items.
As part of the Crime and Policing Bill, Parliament has recently approved an amendment which will remove sound moderators etc. from the statutory definition of a firearm. Instead, any accessory designed to diminish noise or flash will now be classed as ‘a relevant accessory’, and a new offence will be created of having possession of a relevant accessory designed for use with a section 1 firearm without holding a firearm or shotgun certificate. This offence will be punishable by a maximum penalty of a level 3 fine.
It is not yet known when this change in legislation will come into force, but when it does, it will in practical terms have a number of positive consequences;
• there will no longer be any need for certificate holders to apply and wait for a variation to be entered onto their certificate authorising them to acquire a sound moderator or flash suppressor for a section one rifle
• this will avoid long delays and should lead to the trade seeing more spontaneous purchases of such accessories
• dealers should still require your customers to produce their certificate, but you and the purchaser will no longer need to notify the police of the transfer of these accessories
• dealing with such variations has been a significant additional burden on police firearms licensing departments and so this should hopefully lead to efficiency improvements in the processing of grants and renewals
• RFDs will be additionally authorised to possess and trade in relevant accessories, since they now fall outside the definition of a section 1 firearm
• this amendment will also be built into the various exemptions from the requirement to hold a certificate, i.e. the possession of a relevant accessory will be permitted under a temporary or visitor’s permit, and in situations where it is being borrowed with a firearm or shotgun on private land, possessed by a member of a Home Office approved pistol and rifle club, or at a miniature rifle range.
It has long been case that a sound moderator for a low powered air weapon (sub 12 foot pounds) can lawfully be purchased and possessed without any authority. However, what this change in legislation still does not deal with is those accessories which are dual use.
For example, there are sound moderators available on the market which are capable of fitting and functioning equally well on both a .22 rifle and a low powered air rifle of the same calibre. Anyone in possession of an air weapon and a relevant accessory to go with it is unlikely to be prosecuted. However, what if they have sold or otherwise disposed of the air rifle but they still have the sound moderator or flash suppressor which went with it, and which could equally be fitted to a section one firearm?
In that situation, there might be a risk of facing prosecution. The outcome would probably depend on whether the accessory was designed or adapted for use with a section 1 firearm. Similar questions arise for collectors of deactivated weapons who may also have such accessories to add to the overall effect, but in many cases collectors of deactivated weapons may not participate in any shooting sports, and so they may not hold a firearm or shotgun certificate.
This grey area in the law in relation to ‘dual use’ accessories remains and it is a pity that Parliament has not so far taken the opportunity to clarify this. We can only hope that it is addressed before the Policing & Crime Bill is formally enacted.
Once this legislation is on the statue book the Home Office will no doubt issue some guidance on this topic. It may well be that we will be revisiting this subject in due course.