They can be transferred and sold freely for cash – and there is no requirement to record any details of the transaction. PA/PA Archive/PA ImagesĪs antique weapons are exempt from firearm legislation, there is no need to hold them on a firearms licence. In essence, then, these firearms are fully functioning weapons, as accurate and deadly as firearms that are currently restricted.Īntique guns recovered during one 2004 operation. This means that some antique weapons have the same firing mechanism as those in production today – it is only their calibre that is classified as obsolete. Since the introduction of the centerfire cartridge and firing mechanism in the mid-1800s, there has been no significant change in design. There is also the additional requirement that an antique firearm must be held as a curiosity or ornament.
This supposedly makes it impossible to find suitable ammunition. Instead, the Home Office provide guidance on what should be considered “antique” based on a number of factors including loading mechanism, age (pre-1939) and if its calibre – the diameter of the projectile it shoots – is obsolete. Antique guns are increasingly cropping up in violent crimes due to a lack of control around the sale, transfer and ownership of firearms made before 1939.īetween 20, four fatalities were linked to the use of antique weapons, while the number of antiques recorded in crime increased from four in 2008 to 91 in 2016.Īntique weapons are exempt from the Firearms Act 1968 under Section 58(2) – though at present there is no clear definition of what constitutes an antique.
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