What is changing with airguns in Scotland?

What is changing with airguns in Scotland?

As of the 1st of January 2017 anyone in Scotland who wishes to possess an airgun will require to be authorised. For most people this will involve applying for, and being granted, a new Airgun license. If you possess a current firearms or shotgun license in Scotland you will be allowed to wait until your next renewal before you have to apply for your airgun license. Here is a headline summary of the key changes to help you quickly identify if you need to act.

Licenses will be issued by your local police in the same way that they currently handle Firearms and Shotgun applications.  Any visitors to Scotland wishing to bring an airgun with them will be required to apply for, and be granted, a visitor's permit before crossing the border.  

If you are currently in possession of an airgun, by the 1st of January 2017 you must have done one of the following:

  1. Have applied for (but not necessarily been granted) a new airgun license
  2. Disposed of your airgun
  3. Uprate your Airgun to FAC Level (and had it added to your FAC)

OR

Be a current Scottish SGC or FAC holder and apply for an airgun certificate at your next renewal.

So far we still do not have full details of the application process or cost but we have been told to expect this to be announced in May 2016. A good source of further details and announcements can be found here - http://airweapon.scot/how-to-apply

Airsoft, paintball and BB guns will be mostly unaffected, ( under 1 joule or 2.5 joules in specific circumstances).  Air Pistols up to 6 ft lbs and Air rifles up to 12 ft lbs will be included.  Above these levels they are treated as a firearm and will not be affected by this change as they should already be on your FAC.  Even old rusty forgotten childhood heirlooms will be included in this change and just because it is old or broken does not mean you do not require to act.

We have a full blog post on the criteria that will be applied to determine if an applicant is suitable to be granted a new airgun license Here, but in summary, it is going to be on par with a FAC and more ‘strict’ than a SGC.  You will require to show good reason to have it and have access to ground upon which to use it.  A background check will be carried out and previous convictions will be taken into account.

To dispose of any unwanted air guns you can do the following:

  1. Hand it into the Police between the 23rd May and 12th June 
  2. Sell it to an individual who will be/is licensed or is outwith Scotland.
  3. Bring it to Bushwear 

 

More Reading

http://airweapon.scot/

Back to News