I'm still stumped.

RED-DOT

Well-Known Member
Why are moderators/silencers classed as a licensable firearm and up until ten years ago a real pain in the erse to get granted? H&S concerns make the grant now easier but they are just a tin can with baffles and need variations for having more than one on the same rifle.
 
As I guess you know, originally they were devices that were only seen to be used by people such as assassins, not stalkers or vermin controllers and so were made subject to licencing. But there are now so many valid reasons to have them, such as H&S, i.e. so as not to cause injury to ears, so as not to unduly disturb livestock, so as to not to unduly disturb people who might be living in proximity to where you are shooting, so as not to unduly disturb wildlife (except perhaps what you're shooting at) and so on.

Today, the only effect of having them licenced is to create pointless administrative paperwork. Just one of the strange effects of having piecemeal legislation covering firearms enacted over many decades.
 
They were only accepted by the authorities after an FC ranger threatened a law suit due to the risk of permanent damage to his hearing during the course of his job
 
It's probably got more to do with the portrayal of "silencers" in films and TV than anything else - always makes me laugh when they make that pphhtt sound...last time I checked, my rifles are anything but silent even when equipped with silencers :D
 
Because, I believe, it's a 'pressure bearing part' which is therefore considered (Home Office guidelines I think) as a controlled part of a S1 firearm. Just like your bolt and unlike your stock or scope. Silly really.
 
Maybe we should ask if we can have them removed from legislation.

a partition?

bob
 
Also, the fact that they're listed separately on FAC and most of us have a mod for each rifle we own effectively doubles the number of "firearms" in private ownership - all useful statistics for the anti gun lobby.
 
RD

They are classed as licensable firearms because they are specifically included in the definition of a firearm in the 1968 Act.

F
 
Seems really silly that a .22 mod is on ticket, but the same mod for a .22 non fac air rifle is off ticket!

David.
 
I got my first CF moderators in 1990 and bought what was just about the only one available at the time, a Vaime end fitted mod, it added nearly 320mm to the barrel, had one on my .222 Bruno fox and one on my .243 P/H model 1200, made them somewhat unwieldy as I didn't cut the barrels down for accuracy/ longer range work.

I remember having a right old battle with the then Dyfed-Powys firearms dept as to why I would want such a thing, doing all the justification, detailing the difference between a silencer where the baffles slow the bullet and a sound moderator where it just slows the gasses (waiting for an argument here!), took 6 months of campaigning but I got them, how things have changed ehh!!

I made my previous one and just advised the Wilts Firearms dept I had done so and they put it on my ticket, lasted 7 years and was quieter than any mod I have seen ever, as it was made big to really capture all the gasses a reflex 8 design on steroids. My LP is not a patch for sound, but somewhat lighter!

Makes me laugh at what an arse the law is surrounding these, but at least we can own them, more than my mate in Canada, have to leave mine behind every time I go out hunting.

Anyhow I stray.....
 
Because, I believe, it's a 'pressure bearing part' which is therefore considered (Home Office guidelines I think) as a controlled part of a S1 firearm. Just like your bolt and unlike your stock or scope. Silly really.

Interestingly, if the mod is actually a 'part' of a firearm the you don't need separate authority to own it. Like a DeLisle carbine, or something like that.

A mod as we understand it is described as an accessory to (rather than a part of) a S1 firearm, designed or adapted to diminish the noise of firing - and that is the property of it that means you need a FAC slot for it.
If it's for a S2 firearm or a non-FAC airgun, then you don't. Firearms Act S57.
 
Awww quit your griping;) In the US they are classed the same as a full auto machine gun! You would think that we could overthrow governments with them
 
Firearms Act 1920. You know...that background check reasonable and sensible gun control measure, similar to what Obama wb"ants now in theb US, that no person except a Bill of Rights or 2nd Amendment supporter or oter sort of "gun rights absolutist" could have legitimately have objected to. That's where the nonsense on moderators/silencers/suppressors comes from.
 
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We knock health and safety but this is one instance where
it helps. Its now easy to get a moderator if you remember to put one on your licence
We should assume every rifle can have a moderator
if you choose too and get rid of the red tape involved.

I think the original objections were part of the dread of firearms and
even more dread of clandestine "silenced" moderated firearms
......weapons of the poacher and assassins ???
 
Unfortunately, this is not, entirely, correct. When I left, in June 2014, one could, legally, purchase a moderator and use it; just not for Stalking.

Well - Yes and No. All silencers are considered an NFA (National Firearm Act) Class 3 controlled item, the same as full auto machine guns. However, they are also subject to state by state regulation. In some states (Illinois - home to very stringent gun control regulations) they may not be owned or possessed, even with National approval. In other states you may have one, but only use it for target shooting. In the most freedom loving states, you may hunt or target shoot with it, but sometimes there are restrictions on the games species or times (for example, no night hunting).

In all cases, the Federal process is much akin to your FAC process, with some very stupid differences. First - you must go to the store and purchase the specific silencer you choose, down to the same serial number. In other words, you cannot go purchase an Acme 101, you have to go purchase ACME 101, Serial # 12345. You pay for it up front, then receive your paperwork. You then grab your applications paperwork and trundle to your Chief Law Enforcement officer for the county (who may or may not approve of silencers) and be fingerprinted, back ground checked, and approved or denied on all of that along with the CLEOs personal opinion. You will pay whatever fee that particular office charges for this. Then you trundle back to the seller, and complete the final steps of the application and write a non-refundable check for $200. This package then goes off to the Federal Inspectors and takes from 3-12 months to be completed. The seller will then call you at some point in the future, with either good or bad news. Assuming good news, you then go back to the seller and complete the final transfer paperwork and take the silencer home with you.

Should you decide to cross a state line, you must be certain you are in compliance with that states laws, and if you are planning to remain for any length of time, you must submit a Form 20 informing the Feds that you have moved the controlled device.

Now to demonstrate how asinine the above process is - I possess a Concealed Carry Permit (which means that my background is checked every month) and I can go into any store, select any firearm I want, take it to the sales counter, and with some quick transfer paperwork and exchange of cash, walk out the door. The last shotgun I purchased took approximately 15 minutes start to finish.
 
sssshhhhhh!! Don't cause trouble and remove one of the finest loopholes in Firearms licensing/costs

Apply for rifle with justification/good reason - automatically apply for a moderator with no grounds for refusal. Done

Apply for two or more rifles with justification/good reason - automatically apply for a moderator FOR EACH RIFLE with no grounds for refusal.
Buy one moderator and use it on all rifles

Use spare authority slots for the unused moderators for free 141 variations (read: Applications) for new toys when the desire arises!
 
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