From: Jeremy Peter Howells, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
No time limit for production of the certificate is stated
in the act, the timescale for production is therefore held
to be immediate (See the Road Traffic Act provisions for
production of drivingdocuments for the wording that would
be used otherwise).
The failure to produce the certificate is an offence - the
penalties for which are laid out in the schedule to the
Act. These have since been modified by other Acts such as
the Criminal LAw Acts that increased the penalties.
Possession of a firearm or shotgun without a certificate
or lawful authority is an offence in itself.
Any offence reasonably suspected that can result in a
prison term of five years or more (possession of a shotgun
without the necessary authority?) is automaticaly an
'arrestable offence' in law. i.e. the police can arrest
without further evidence or cause - in this case the person
was requested to produce his certificate and refused, he
was in possession of a shotgun so he could reasonably be
suspected to have no certificate and the police were not
required to carry out any further checks before arresting
him.
The police 'may' (as it says in the Act) request the
production of the certificate at any time if they believe
you are 'in possession' of the shotgun or firearm. This
includes when its in its locked security cabinet, etc.
As I said before I'd like to meet this guys solicitor/
barrister. The law was obviously broken and there was
only a recommendation that a database of FAC/SGC holder
be set up, not a legal requirement.
Regards
Jerry
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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