Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988

Firearms (Amendment) Act

Territorial extent	United Kingdom except for Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	15 November 1988
Commencement	January 1989
Other legislation
Replaces	Firearms Act 1968
Status: Current legislation
Text of the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk

The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 (1988 c.45) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which is still in force. The Act, as amended, tightens controls on the possession of firearms, and applies throughout the whole of the United Kingdom except for Northern Ireland. It gained the Royal Assent on 15 November 1988, and came into force two months later.

The Act was passed in response to the Hungerford massacre of 1987, where sixteen people had been killed by a man using an illegally owned semi-automatic rifle (M1 Carbine), a legally owned semi-automatic rifle (Type 56), and a handgun (Beretta 92).

The Act amended Section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968, which defined the class of prohibited weapons, by extending it to cover burst fire firearms, semi-automatic and pump action rifles other than those chambered for .22 rimfire ammunition, semi-automatic and pump action smoothbore guns other than those chambered for .22 rimfire and with a barrel shorter than 24 inches in length or an overall length less than 40 inches (to be measured without detachable stocks or with folding stocks folded), smoothbore revolvers other than muzzle-loaders or one chambered for 9mm rimfire ammunition, and finally any rocket-launcher or mortar which fired a stabilised missile. It also prohibited exploding ammunition, as well as ammunition containing noxious substances and any form of grenade or shell designed to be projected from a firearm.

Additionally, section 1 (4) of the Act gave the Home Secretary the power to prohibit any firearm or type of ammunition not on the list, provided that it had not been widely sold in Britain before 1988, and that it appeared to be "specially dangerous" or constructed so as to evade metal detectors.

Section 2 amended the 1968 Act to limit the type of shotguns which required a shotgun certificate instead of a firearm certificate; this was now defined as a shotgun which had a barrel longer than 24 inches, a calibre of under two inches (50.8mm), and no magazine larger than a fixed two-cartridge magazine. Section 3 amended the regulations for issuing a shotgun license, allowing the police to refuse a license if the applicant was felt not to have a good reason for possessing a shotgun, or was believed to be prohibited by the Act. Section 5 prohibited the sale of shotgun ammunition except to someone entitled under the Act to possess a shotgun, or someone acting on their behalf.