Firearms Act 1937

32 Interpretation

(1) In this Act the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them:—

• " acquiring " means hiring, accepting as a gift and borrowing and the expressions " acquire " and " acquisition" shall be construed accordingly;

• " ammunition," except where otherwise expressly provided, means ammunition for any firearm as hereinafter defined, and includes grenades, bombs and other like missiles, whether capable of use with such a firearm or not, and prohibited ammunition;

• " area " means a police area as defined in section thirty of the [11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 31.] Police (Pensions) Act, 1921;

• " chief officer of police " has the meaning assigned to it by section thirty of the Police (Pensions) Act, 1921;

• " firearm, " except where otherwise expressly provided, means any lethal barrelled weapon of any description from which any shot, bullet or other missile can be discharged and includes any prohibited weapon, whether it is such a lethal weapon as aforesaid or not, any component part of any such lethal or prohibited weapon, and any accessory to any such weapon designed or adapted to diminish the noise or flash caused by firing the weapon;

• " firearm certificate " means a certificate granted either—

  (a)

  in Great Britain, under section two of this Act or under section one of the Firearms Act, 1920; or

  (b)

  in Northern Ireland, under the said section one or under any enactment passed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland amending or substituted for that section;

• " firearms dealer " means a person who, by way of trade or business, manufactures, sells, transfers, repairs, tests or proves firearms or ammunition to which Part I of this Act applies;

• " offence under this Act " includes any act, omission or other thing which is punishable under this Act;

• " prescribed " means prescribed by rules made by a Secretary of State under this Act;

• " prohibited ammunition " means any ammunition referred to in paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section seventeen of this Act;

• " prohibited weapon " means any firearm or weapon referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section seventeen of this Act;

• " registered, " in relation to a firearms dealer, means registered either—

  (i)

  in Great Britain under section eight of this Act or section eight of the Firearms Act, 1920; or

  (ii)

  in Northern Ireland under section eight of the Firearms Act, 1920, or any enactment passed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland amending or substituted for that section;

• " slaughtering instrument " means a firearm which is specially designed or adapted for the instantaneous slaughter of animals or for the instantaneous stunning of animals with a view to slaughtering them;

• " transferring " includes letting on hire, giving, lending, and parting with possession, and the expressions " transfer ", " transferee " and " transferor " shall be construed accordingly.

(2) For the purpose of this Act the length of the barrel of a firearm shall be measured from the muzzle to the point at which the charge is exploded on firing.