Shared ownership of firearms. Can it be done ?!

1967spud Reloading Supplies Ltd - UK Suppliers for Reloading Equipment supplies, We also stock Bullet Heads and Bullet Cases Guns Cabinets, Night vision and much much more...
C

Coppercashkes

Member
Apologies if this thread has been done before, which I’m sure it has. However, I am still waiting for guidance off my local firearms officer and I’m interested in hearing anyone else’s experiences.

Hi all,

I’m looking for some advice and information regarding shared ownership/use of a rifle in a pest control situation.

A friend of mine is a land manager local to me, and we’ve been trying to control the population of certain pest species on the estate. However, this is proving difficult during daylight hours due to the high number of dog walkers in the area.

He currently holds a shotgun certificate, and I hold a firearms certificate. Because of my work commitments, I’m not able to get out on the land as often as I’d like. As he is on the estate every day, opportunities regularly present themselves, but he is unable to act on them without having access to a rifle.

I suggested the possibility of keeping my rifle on the estate, provided my friend is granted an FAC, with the idea of shared ownership so he would be able to take those opportunities when I’m not there.

I would like to save him the expense of buying his own rifle if possible.

I’ve contacted my local firearms department and I’m currently waiting for their response, but I wanted to ask if anyone here has experience with a similar arrangement.

I’ve heard of shared ownership between family members living in the same house, but where would I stand in this situation? Would the rifle need to be stored permanently in one cabinet, with both parties having authorised access to it?

I’d be very interested to hear if anyone has done something similar, and whether there were any complications along the way.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
A friend has a nice 22 rimfire set up for vermin control. I have several 22 rimfires, but none are suitable for vermin control. So my friend's 22 was recently added my FAC. I've had a couple of sessions over the last fortnight to check its zero with Norma subs and am now happy to proceed.

My friend and I have jointly held a number of rifles over the years. Neither of us can access the other's cabinet.

I think that you will need a dedicated cabinet for the shared rifle with no other firearms in it.

Regards

JCS
 
My wife has recently asked about getting her SGC and if she can share my guns and cabinets.

She did also enquire about the rifles too which I said was more complex but some positive comments above from some sensible forces.
 
Rake Aboot said:
Rifles are dirt cheap. He’d be better with his own, rather than giving an feo too much to think about
Click to expand...
jcampbellsmith said:
I agree that rifles are cheap, but I shared my father's rifles for 15 years before I bought one of my one. Where there is a genuine need, I think sharing is the way to go.

Regards

JCS
Click to expand...
Malxwal said:
"Cheap" is a very subjective thing.
And it doesn't hurt to ask an FEO about something that's perfectly simple....unlike trying to explain a rebarrel into a different calibre, but that's a different tale...
Click to expand...
Ye subjective is the word I was looking for. I have a well maintained rifle and scope which is ready to go. Anything “dirt cheap” is expensive if we can get around the issue easily. I do understand where your coming from though 👍🏻
 
jcampbellsmith said:
A friend has a nice 22 rimfire set up for vermin control. I have several 22 rimfires, but none are suitable for vermin control. So my friend's 22 was recently added my FAC. I've had a couple of sessions over the last fortnight to check its zero with Norma subs and am now happy to proceed.

My friend and I have jointly held a number of rifles over the years. Neither of us can access the other's cabinet.

I think that you will need a dedicated cabinet for the shared rifle with no other firearms in it.

Regards

JCS
Click to expand...
Brilliant, thank you
 
I share a rifle with someone from down south. That way when he’s up here he can use it as he sees fit. He doesn’t have access to my cabinet. Same rifle is on both our tickets / fac’s and both forces have been notified and are happy with it
 
My late father had my 243win on his FAC. He was allowed only 50 rounds to purchase. This meant he could quite legally borrow it for stalking.
His own FAC had his target rifles and pistols on it. Just meant that he could swing by me, borrow the rifle and use it elsewhere than the estate I was working on then.
I was Thames Valley,he was Norfolk,both licensing department happy with the arrangement.
 
Lloyd90 said:
My wife has recently asked about getting her SGC and if she can share my guns and cabinets.

She did also enquire about the rifles too which I said was more complex but some positive comments above from some sensible forces.
Click to expand...
I had no issues at all , my youngest has all my guns on her FAC . Indeed it simplifies things a lot for the coppers in many circumstances that might occur
 
jcampbellsmith said:
A friend has a nice 22 rimfire set up for vermin control. I have several 22 rimfires, but none are suitable for vermin control. So my friend's 22 was recently added my FAC. I've had a couple of sessions over the last fortnight to check its zero with Norma subs and am now happy to proceed.

My friend and I have jointly held a number of rifles over the years. Neither of us can access the other's cabinet.

I think that you will need a dedicated cabinet for the shared rifle with no other firearms in it.

Regards

JCS
Click to expand...
Or you have a cabinet with 2 keys, each of you holds the keys for one of the locks, that way the cabinet can only be accessed when both key holders are present.

I have heard of it being done this way in that past and it is what I will be proposing when my son turns 14 next year and we apply for his certificate.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VSS
25 Sharps said:
Or you have a cabinet with 2 keys, each of you holds one of the keys for one of the locks, that way the cabinet can only be accessed when both key holders are present.

I have heard of it being done this way in that past and it is what I will be proposing when my son turns 14 next year amd we apply for his certificate.
Click to expand...
That worked for us.
Despite the fact that my daughter had open conditions and no mentoring requirement from age 14, I still wanted to maintain some degree of parental control.
The one key each method provided a workable solution.
 
My late mother and I shared a .22" Martini rifle when I had my first FAC back in 1976 which were the days when even that wasn't required to be kept locked in a cabinet and was kept behind the large immersion heater in the walk in clothes and linen room. In the day when you bought ammunition at your shooting range. But nowadays...which is really the point of the immersion heater anecdote...one of the conditions on any firearm or shotgun being possessed is that any unauthorised person cannot have access to it.

So that would mean that yes, you could share a rifle (or whatever) but that said rifle (or said whatever) would have to be kept so that it was the only weapon that each of you could access if you didn't have the sharing or any other firearms or shotguns that you each possessed and kept in the same cabinet. The cheapest and easiest solution would therefore be a one or two gun cabinet just for that rifle. Any ammunition being your each own responsibility to avoid the "no no" of that one cabinet also having ammunition for the rifle in with it.

As they are not much use for those of us that are the much newspaper quoted "sad loner with an arsenal of weapons" used and pre-owned cabinets of one or two gun size are usually cheap on internet sites or at many local or national auction houses. So at £50 or so that may be cheaper to fund that (and a cleaning kit for it also in the cabinet) than the OP's friend acquiring their own rifle as it will be not only the rifle but the 'scope for it that costs the money.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Firearms certificate
2 3 4
Replies
68
Views
4K
Liveonce
L
Chainsaw Insurance?
Replies
14
Views
769
KimE
K
Gloucestershire firearms dept
Replies
4
Views
411
nic531
nic531
Humberside variation
Replies
4
Views
295
RJ86
R
Dual ownership of Shotguns Advice.
Replies
9
Views
753
25 Sharps
25 Sharps
1967spud Reloading Supplies Ltd - UK Suppliers for Reloading Equipment supplies, We also stock Bullet Heads and Bullet Cases Guns Cabinets, Night vision and much much more...
Back
Top