Does anyone know the definitive answer about travelling with loaded magazines, be they small bore, full bore or cartridges for a box fed shotgun? Most people seem to think that ammo must be in a ‘container’ when being transported, but would a magazine be defined as a container for this purpose?
Any ideas please?
I've seen this debate over and over, online and in clubs. There are many opinions and folk hold them quite passionately at times. I think there's also a lot of assertion made by folk without actually checking what the law states and a fair bit of 'it's always been like that' or 'everyone knows it, but I can't tell you where it comes from'. I think some of the confusion stems from the wording of S19 of the 1968 Act, which has also changed over time.
It used to state that unloaded shotguns and air weapons required no good reason to have in public, so there was quite a focus on what constituted unloaded, whereas it now only says shotguns and in the case of S2 shotguns, it's easy to work out if it's loaded or not, because 99% of the time they don't have a magazine per se and this a loaded magazine in a pocket also doesn't come into it.
Under current wording, all section 1 firearms (whether loaded or not) IF you have suitable ammunition for them with you (nb. this is another bit some folk debate) and all air weapons cannot be in public loaded or unloaded, without good reason. It stands to reason that if you have good reason to have such a gun in public, you will also have good reason to have it loaded if the good reason requires it. If you're mid shoot on a permission or stalking, you're going to have good reason, if you're walking down the high street on the way home, your good reason to have it loaded is going to be extremely shooglie.
I suppose the only area left that seems to be where the discussion always end up is having a loaded magazine in a range bag or pocket en routine to or from the range or permission. That seems to be what the debate now focuses on. However, my understanding of the Firearms Acts, and having just checked with the seminal UK Firearms Law Handbook, is that the law as it currently stands does not consider having a loaded magazine an issue and it does not consider it as essentially comprising a loaded firearm (as some have claimed in debates) so long as it is not installed in the firearm and you have the necessary authority to have it on your person in the first place.
I know some will disagree, but I haven't found any evidence at all that having a loaded magazine is an offence, so long as it is not installed in the firearm. The UK Firearms Law Handbook is also quite clear about this fact, and while it's not a court ruling, it's authors are the top firearms lawyers in the UK. Now, having said all that, I personally wouldn't carry a loaded magazine for a S1 firearm in public, nor would I advise anyone else to do so, but if we're taking the law on face value, the police would be hard pressed to actually charge you for it, so long as you weren't straying over the line of any other firearms or offensive weapons offences.
