From: "pa49", [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I haven't noticed any response on this thread so here
is my two penn'orth.
I have enquired about the wording with regard to RFD
authorisations and my local firearms dept are very
reluctant to comment. The general conclusion
was that RFDs, to a great extent, regulate themselves
and must know instinctively what they can and can't do.
They had no case law to refer to and didn't seem
particularly interested in taking it further. It may be
that in an Authority where there is little problem,
then little is made of the issues involved. I was not
happy with this and sought legal advice. This proved
to be of less use than the firearms dept. No case law
and no reference law. There are obviously conditions
laid down by law but when all these are complied with
it appears that the RFD authorisation can be read as
contract law and when this is applied the wording on
the relevant authorisation is of vital importance and
they do vary. I am able to carry out the work necessary
to enable me to follow the business as outlined in
the authorisation. This is quite a vague 'definition'
however it can include any required demonstration of
the products that I am able to handle. This is
necessary to enable me to show a prospective customer.
This enables me to have all the required ammunition,
accessories and spares as well as the firearms
themselves, but I can't use them for my own personal
shooting.
Neither can I personally use the ammunition that I
purchase under my RFD unless I transfer it to my FAC
and have the cover on that. I am able to use, for
trade purposes, any firearm on my stock, wherever it
might be legal, without asking for further permission
(as long as I would be able to show that the use is by
way of trade then I am covered for any purpose and
this includes testing, zeroing, demonstration etc). I
can transport any stock anywhere in the UK, again as
long as it is for trade purposes. I also got the
advice that the authority could be interpreted to
cover taking any stock outside the country although
it was pointed out that this could be for
demonstration purposes only, as any sales would
require export licences etc.
I haven' tried that one yet!!!!!!!
I did make extensive enquiries about sect 5
authorisation and I was informed that in general
terms, if granted, the wording was likely to remain
the same and the same interpretation of use would
apply.
Anyone any further thoughts or different
wording/interpretation of their authority?
Neil Saint
--
If you have Section 5 authority from a legal standpoint
it is out of the hands of the police, an FAC or RFD
issued with the authority of the Secretary of State
cannot be revoked by anyone except the Secretary of
State. In practice of course if the police ask the
Home Office to revoke it they usually will.
Section 5 authorities I have seen vary, and the
thing that worries me the most is any idiot could
forge one. All it is is a letter signed by the
Secretary of State saying "You have the authority
as stated on the attached piece of paper", the
attached piece of paper being a copy of Section 5
of the Firearms Act 1968 with numbers written
next to each section stating total authorities.
It is a major problem doing it this way, because
what usually happens is that the police inspect
the security and say "This is okay for 100
Section 5 guns", but then, what do you apply
for if you want to be a general arms dealer?
100 SLRs, 100 MGs? The point is you might have
100 SLRs the one day, and 100 MGs the next, but
you can only have 100 of something. A local dealer
I know split it 20 handguns, 20 SLRs, 20 MGs etc.
but in reality he does most of his Section 5 business
with handguns, and will rarely have SLRs in stock.
I think a better way of doing it would be to say
you have Section 5 authority for a total of 100
guns covered by Section 5, and you can stock guns
from all of these subsections. Perhaps it is
done that way sometimes.
Anyway, don't worry, the Home Office have promised
a crackdown on RFDs shortly (in fact they have
already required inspections in the local force area
of everyone) so what you can and cannot do will be
clarified soon, I expect!
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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