Best practice for going out with firearms without physical license

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lovelyloopystuff

Active Member
I'm sending my FAC away for a variation and hoping to still go out with my rifle, What's the best practice to be prepared for a situation where I have to prove I legally hold the rifles?
I have a photo of my licenses so do I just show them the pic and tell whomever that the hard copy is with the Licensing dept?
Does crossing into another police forces patch affect things?

Thanks.
 
If you’re stopped in your car ..once they do the reg owner check..there will be a marker in their system..
Just carry on you’ve got all that’s required but be polite..
 
lovelyloopystuff said:
I'm sending my FAC away for a variation and hoping to still go out with my rifle, What's the best practice to be prepared for a situation where I have to prove I legally hold the rifles?
I have a photo of my licenses so do I just show them the pic and tell whomever that the hard copy is with the Licensing dept?
Does crossing into another police forces patch affect things?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Yes carry colour copy of your FAC plus have it on your phone as well so you have a digital image they can check
 
As already stated, a photo on your phone and even a photocopy, I'll also add, carry your driving licence with you so you can prove you are who you say you are (even though you have a photo on the license copy, it isn't original).
Although, how many times have you actually been stopped in the past?
 
I keep an image of my certificates on my phone.

In the 1970's my certificate was in for variation. On a Sunday might at Motorway Services in Leicestershire the Police spotted it, on the back seat under a rug in my VW Beetle, it was a target rifle and wouldn’t fit in the boot. They contacted Norfolk who confirmed I was licensed. What irritated them was in my shooting kit I had some BB one of their colleagues had just had a swan off shotgun incident. Anyway as per the letter of the law they seized my rifle until I could produce my certificate. We may think they were unreasonable, or perhaps it was just a bad day, but that’s what the law says.
 
Greenmist said:
As already stated, a photo on your phone and even a photocopy, I'll also add, carry your driving licence with you so you can prove you are who you say you are (even though you have a photo on the license copy, it isn't original).
Although, how many times have you actually been stopped in the past?
Click to expand...
Never been stopped so far, but it could happen at any time so I'd like to know how I stand
 
Don't think for a minute that any cops that want to stop and check you won't ascertain that you've got a firearms certificate. Unless there's some catastrophic failure of the computer system. Not likely, but who knows these days with Putin's hackers and the like. If you do get stopped, early on mention to them you have legally owned firearms in the vehicle. You don't want to blind side them.

Anyway, you don't have to carry about your certificates and I, for one won't unless there's a perceived need to (going to buy ammo or something). There's just more likelihood of them going astray. Having a picture on your phone or a hard copy isn't, of course proof positive you've got a certificate. Could be an expired one that's had the dates changed, for example, but if it gives you a bit of peace of mind, there's no harm in that.
 
Scanned copy of certificate kept on my phone. Have never been asked to produce it as yet.
 
lovelyloopystuff said:
I'm sending my FAC away for a variation and hoping to still go out with my rifle, What's the best practice to be prepared for a situation where I have to prove I legally hold the rifles?
I have a photo of my licenses so do I just show them the pic and tell whomever that the hard copy is with the Licensing dept?
Does crossing into another police forces patch affect things?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I’ve been stopped and asked, more than once, never had my certificate with me and never an issue.

But I do now carry a photo of the front sheet as it’s no effort really.
 
In my previous life, I once stopped a young lad carrying a shotgun crossing a rural road. It was in the days when you could ask for a firearms check, but it wasn't on the computer and someone had to walk down a few corridors out of hours and check in the firearms Dept. Not something the under-staffed control room staff wanted to do. So I improvised. I was happy he had given me his right details, but he didn't have his certificate on him. I gave him a "producer", crossing out the usual driving licence, insurance and MOT and wrote "shotgun certificate" on it. Sure enough, good as gold he did produce it at the police station the next day.

The Firearms Act does state that any police officer can require a certificate holder to produce his certificate(s) within a reasonable time. The reasonable time isn't specified though. That still stands today. There's no real reason to be in possession of your tickets whilst out. But certainly nothing that says you shouldn't too, or some impression of it.
 
I was once stopped by the police in a sports car on a Saturday morning. I was wearing a camouflage jacket and had a shotgun in a slip in the passenger footwell leaning against the seat which had a slab of cartridges on it. The officer never so much as mentioned it.
 
Last edited:
sy247 said:
I was once stopped by the police in a sports car on a Saturday morning. I was wearing a camouflage jacket and had a shotgun in a slip in the passenger footwear leaning against the seat which had a slab of cartridges on it. The officer never so much as mentioned it.
Click to expand...
He was probably too busy looking at the yellow Lamborghini :norty:
 
If I am stalking locally mY certificate remains at home. I have scanned copy on my phone.

If I am travelling away on a shooting trip then I take my certification with me.
 
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