what can he do?

mikewilliams

Well-Known Member
a friend of mine has a dilemma.
his father used to have a shotgun licence years ago but has expired also years ago!
the trouble is the shotgun is still in his cabinet.
his mother and father had a divorce because he had an affair.
she wont let him anywhere near the house because of this.
the key to the cabinet got lost somwhere and has recently been found.
when his fathers licence was about to expire he notified the firearms department and nothing ever came of it.
he then took it to his local gunshop to try and sell it to them but they told him they couldnt touch it because it wasnt licenced.

what can he do?
does he take it to his local police station?
 
Q1. Do you have a license?
Q2. Have you spoken to local FEO and explained situation
Q3. Is the father still alive
Truth is local Firearms dept would prefer these unlicensed guns at least on a ticket so as they know where they are. If you have a ticket then tell the police you can get a firearms dealer around to put it on your ticket or get a firearms dealer to come and take it then retrieve it off of them ( for a fee ). Don't forget they have to deal with deceased estates all the time. Don't let the police have it or you'll probably never see it again and it'll be sold with the funds going to the police benevolent fund. Any guns that are worth something are usually sold on that way.
 
Going on the basis that your mates Dad was the SGC holder and would/should have had sole access to the cabinet his mother would have no specific knowledge of what the cabinet contained. She/your mate has obvioulsy recently found a key to the cabinet and to facilitate it's removal or whatever have opened it and found a shotgun. I would think an immediate call to the local station asking them to attend and uplift this item would be appropriate and I would doubt would cause any problems for your mate or his mother in that they were acting in good faith. I think it will be important that neither your mate or his mother knew that the shotgun was within the cabinet. The longer your mate or his mother delay going to the Police would increase the chances of one or both being considered as possessing a shotgun illegally.
 
yes i have a licence.
not spoken to my feo.
the father is still alive.

what i'll do then is phone my local firearms dept and explain the situation to them.
then take the gun to my local rfd and ask to put it on my licence for a fee.
at least the gun is in the 'system'.
my friends father will still own it but it will be on my licence.

is this the right thing to do?
 
when his fathers licence was about to expire he notified the firearms department and nothing ever came of it.
he then took it to his local gunshop to try and sell it to them but they told him they couldnt touch it because it wasnt licenced.

what can he do?

1. the Police SHOULD have had a more positive input than ignoring the situation
2. ANY RFD CAN take in unlicensed guns - whether for storage, destruction, deactivation or re-sale - it IS part of the Firearms Act, as a way to get such things back on the books & off the streets where they may fall into the wrong hands. All the RFD logs it in the book is as "surrendered from Mr. ABC - found in locked cabinet" or some such...

I'd try option #2 again, but either at another RFD or take a copy of the relevant act in with him
 
I am a RFD in County Durham
I have taken in surrendered firearms and shotguns in the past and notified the Police HQ of the fact stating that they were either deceased persons effects or surrendered anonimously. They said to hold on to them for a couple of weeks whilst they checked them out and then allowed me to dispose of them.
Hope this helps.
 
There you go.
1. Get RFD to come round and uplift gun.
2. He will take it in a log it with Firearms Dept.
3. When Firearms have completed their enquiries, pay the RFD and get it put on your license.
 
I would think once the police know about it you can kiss goodbye to it plus somebody may face charges !
 
I would think once the police know about it you can kiss goodbye to it plus somebody may face charges !

Thats what I would have thought ,I can't believe that the police would knowingly leave a firearm in a house with unlisensed individuals wether in a cabinet or not something does not seem right I could be far wide of the mark, especially after very recent tragic events I would have thought they would be round there sharp ish......
 
not sure exactly how long it's been in the cabinet.

think i'll give him the firearms dept phone number and leave it at that.
 
May be totally wrong here but in theory if this shotgun is accepted by an RFD and he/she notifies the police of him/her taking possession (I am assuming that he/she would have to do so) or if when he sells it/gives it to a sgc holder and he registers it do the Police just go "OK" or do they check out the serial number and it comes up as last being registered to "John Smith" whose SGC expired many years ago. Do they then contact John Smith and ask him what he did with the firearm. I can see no problem in an RFD taking possession of a deceased's firearms/shotguns directly after the death (there is a trail of where this firearm has come from). Handed in anonimously? The Police check the number, registered to John Smith, he is seen and states he left it in a cabinet at his ex wife's house. Unauthorised possession of a shotgun/firearm carries a healthy jail term.
 
i think what my friend was planning to do was to get the gun from his mothers house hand it to his father and then take it to the gunshop to try and sell it to them.
but i think the gunshop must have realised that his sgc was out of date and kept there distance due to it being a bit of a grey area.

i'll ask my friend a few more questions tomorrow about how long his fathers sgc has run out.
we could be talking +25years!
 
It is ACPO policy that any guns coming into police possession, including guns actually owned by the police are never sold on. Selling such guns for benevolent funds is simply not true. There is an arrangement with the museums consortium where a gun of particular interest (antique etc.) may be donated for museum exhibition, similarly the forensic collection may be supplied for the purpose of testing/comparison in criminal cases.
There have been a couple of cases where a bent feo or cop have gone inside for selling them though.
Police forces will sometimes supply guns to each other, for example where one force has ceased to use a particular firearm and another still uses it.
I should know, before I retired earlier this year I supervised the destruction of a whole batch of Accuracy International 7.62 sniper rifles, which would have fetched a fair price on the open market. Almost brought tears to the eyes !
The 95% of guns destroyed by the police are on the lower to rubbish end of the scale. My worst experience and thankfully a one off, was cutting up a Holland Royal number two of a pair that had been stolen in a burglary, sawn off and used in a £200 armed robbery by idiots. The owner had been paid out by insurance and the court ordered the sawn off to be destroyed. All those years ago the action and lock would still have fetched £1,500, but through the crusher it went ! That did make me wince though. So to reiterate...the police do not (lawfully) sell guns and the public can surrender them for destruction with confidence that they will not be sold on or recycled. If you hear of a gun that has been surrendered being offered for sale by a police officer or feo, a call to the professional standards office of the force should be made pdq.
 
Well I have to say that I think you are wrong and maybe different constabularies have different policies but I have seen shotguns on the shelf of Gun rooms with a note saying being sold on behalf of .......... and when I enquired was told that all the guns are assessed by a frearms expert and the rubbsh goes out anythng worth a little is sent to Gun shop and anything worth alot is sent to auction.
Guns used in crimes though are probably a different matter. I think they are required to be destroyed
 
i think what my friend was planning to do was to get the gun from his mothers house hand it to his father and then take it to the gunshop to try and sell it to them.
but i think the gunshop must have realised that his sgc was out of date and kept there distance due to it being a bit of a grey area.

i'll ask my friend a few more questions tomorrow about how long his fathers sgc has run out.
we could be talking +25years!

There is no grey area about it, a firearms dealer can take in a gun in such circumstances (virtually no questions) asked.
My personal view is that your friend has three options-
1. Sell or surrender to a RFD
2. Surrender at the local police station.
3. Get it signed on to someones shotgun certificate. Your FEO will advise how this can be done.

Whatever he decides he should decide and act immediately or face the consequences which could include imprisonment if found to be in possession without a valid certificate. My experience is that the police are most helpful when such guns turn up and are only too happy to help in getting such guns signed on to a certificate.
 
Well I have to say that I think you are wrong and maybe different constabularies have different policies but I have seen shotguns on the shelf of Gun rooms with a note saying being sold on behalf of .......... and when I enquired was told that all the guns are assessed by a frearms expert and the rubbsh goes out anythng worth a little is sent to Gun shop and anything worth alot is sent to auction.
Guns used in crimes though are probably a different matter. I think they are required to be destroyed

Indeed I used to shoot with someone who had a few guns from our local constabulary and a fair supply of surrendered cartridges, but this was a few years ago.
I also had an occasion where a relative of mine didn't renew and signed his shotgun over to me and I had posession, both of us informed but it never got registered to me at their end. 3 years later he applied again and without any comment from the licensing dept his new ticket was printed with that gun on it despite a lapse of 3 years.

In this case you really don't want to hang about if you get involved thats where the problems start, the two options are hand it in to the police or a RFD and try and get it signed onto your ticket. The former I'd suggest you are less likely to be able to keep and sell it than the latter, whats occuring now has a fairly stiff sentence attached so it needs sorting out ASAP
 
OK well had a gentle conversation with my FLO - "what should I do if I'm offered an unlicensed shotgun". He said he operates an amnesty for such things as the majority he picks up have been handed into RFD's anonymously.

So my advice is he just hand it into a gun shop or range, and ask to remain anonymous. At the end of the day it's a shotgun not an Uzi :D
 
i know of someone that found a shotgun. He told the police and had it put onto his licence without much fuss.

I dont think the police will kick up much of a fuss. I would just write them a letter saying you have acquired a shotgun and that you would like to keep it on your licence and it shouldnt be a problem.
 
all sorted out now.
my friend phoned the firearms department on behalf of his father and explained the situation to them.
the gun is now on my ticket and in my cabinet.
and back on the system.

they transfered the details of the gun onto my file on their computer and his father filled my certificate as you would in a normal transfer.
 
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