Firearms Act 1968

F1 32A Documents for European purposes. E+W+S

(1) Where a person is granted, or is the holder of, a certificate under this Act, he shall be entitled to be issued by the chief officer of police for the area in which he resides with—

(a) a document (“a European firearms pass”) containing the required particulars; and

(b) a document stating that, for the purposes of Article 7 of the European weapons directive, the holder of the certificate has the agreement of the United Kingdom authorities, for so long as the certificate remains in force, to any purchase or acquisition by him in another member State of any firearm or ammunition to which the certificate relates;

and an application for the issue of a document falling within paragraph (a) or (b) above may be made at the same time as any application for a certificate the grant of which will entitle him to the issue of the document or subsequently while the certificate is in force.

(2) Where—

(a) a person who resides in Great Britain is proposing to purchase or acquire any firearm or ammunition in another member State;

(b) that person is not for the time being the holder of a certificate under this Act relating to that firearm or ammunition;

(c) the firearm falls within category B for the purposes of Annex I to the European weapons directive or the ammunition is capable of being used with such a firearm; and

(d) that person satisfies the chief officer of police for the area where he resides that he is not proposing to bring that firearm or ammunition into the United Kingdom,

the chief officer of police may, if he thinks fit, issue that person with a document stating that, for the purposes of Article 7 of the European weapons directive, that person has the agreement of the United Kingdom authorities to any purchase or acquisition by him in another member State of that firearm or ammunition.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1) above the required particulars, in relation to a person issued with a European firearms pass, are—

(a) particulars identifying that person;

(b) particulars identifying every firearm which—

(i) that person has applied to have included in a European firearms pass; and

(ii) is a firearm in relation to which a certificate granted to that person is for the time being in force;

(c) a statement in relation to every firearm identified in the pass as to the category into which it falls for the purposes of Annex I to the European weapons directive;

(d) the date of the issue of the pass and the period from its issue for which the pass is to be valid;

(e) the statements required by paragraph (f) of Annex II to that directive (statements as to travel in the member States with the firearms identified in the pass).

(4) For the purposes of this section the particulars of the firearms to which a shot gun certificate relates which are to be contained in a European firearms pass by virtue of subsection (3)(b) above are—

(a) a description of the shot guns to which that certificate relates; and

(b) any identification numbers specified in or entered on that certificate in pursuance of section 28(2A) of this Act or in consequence of any person’s compliance, in accordance with [F2 section 32(2)(b) of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 (requirements relating to transfers of firearms)], with any instructions contained in the certificate;

and, accordingly, references in this Act to a firearm identified in such a pass shall include references to any shot gun of a description specified in that pass.

(5) A European firearms pass shall contain space for the making of entries by persons authorised to do so under the law of any member State.

(6) The period specified in a European firearms pass as the period for which it is to be valid shall be whichever is the shorter of the following—

(a) the period until the earliest time when a certificate relating to a firearm identified in the pass expires; and

(b) the maximum period for the duration of that pass.

(7) For the purposes of subsection (6) above the maximum period for the duration of a European firearms pass is—

(a) in the case of a pass identifying only a firearm or firearms stated in the pass to fall within category D for the purposes of Annex I to the European weapons directive, ten years; and

(b) in any other case, five years.

Textual Amendments

F1 Heading and ss. 32A-32C inserted (1.1.1993) by S.I. 1992/2823, reg. 5(1)

F2 Words in s. 32A(4)(b) substituted (1.10.1997) by 1997 c. 5, s. 52(1), Sch. 2 para. 6; S.I. 1997/1535, art. 3(c), Sch. Pt. II