Dear British people: how well do you know your country's gun laws & gun culture? Where can you buy guns? What types of "guns" can be legally owned without a license? What types of guns can be owned with what type of license? Gun crazy UK.

Before we get started, this isn't really intended to be a political opinion post. If you wish to talk politics, please do so here.

And keep in mind that I'm mainly talking about England and Wales, not really any other part of the UK.


Now, I've seen lots of British people claim that there are no guns in their country, civilians aren't allowed to have guns, or at least don't know where to buy guns. I even found a denier in one instance. If you want to see the examples, just ask for them in the comments and I'll show you.

But of course, this is simply ignorance from people who were hardly taught the laws of their country, let alone the not all that well known and rather repressed gun culture (it's not as badly repressed as, say, Singapore, but people are still not as gun positive as, say, Wyoming).

So, what are the gun laws in the United Kingdom? How many registered gun dealers are out there? What types of guns are allowed? How does one get a license? What types of guns can be owned without a license? I'm here to answer all of those questions, including what are, in my opinion, the best examples of guns respective to their class.

First off, civilians over a certain age can own airsoft guns, deactivated guns, pellet guns (14 years for ownership, 18 for purchase), and even blank guns with virtually no restriction (just don't have a court order prohibiting you from owning firearms).

Examples of antique guns: oldguns.co.uk.

Deactivated weapons:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/117802/deactivation-of-firearms-2010.pdf

Examples: http://www.deactivated-guns.co.uk/deactivated-guns/modern-deactivated-guns/deactivated-makarov-9mm-pistol/prod_5456.html

https://www.gunstar.co.uk/AK47/Deactivated-Guns/IL/All-Guns-for-sale

Airguns:

Airguns can be found in places such as https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%2212+ft%2Flbs%22+spring+site%3Awww.pellpax.co.uk&atb=v33-4__ and http://www.armex.co.uk/ .

Blank guns (including "plug fire cap" guns):

Perhaps the best example of a website to legally buy them would be http://www.plugfirecapgunsuk.com/ . You can also check out http://www.actionreplicarentals.co.uk/weapons.php but they do rentals only.

Now, let's move onto the types of guns that you do need a license for, plus the videos on how to get them.

Section 2 shotguns:

With a Section 2 shotgun certificate, you can get a semi-automatic shotgun... provided that the magazine is fixed and is plugged up to 2 rounds only.

Proof that these shotguns exist and are egal can be seen on 

https://www.gunstar.co.uk/Semi-Auto/Shotgun-Section-2/AE/Shotguns?sstr=Benelli%20Super%20Black%20Eagle%202&ads_dist=25 and

https://www.gunstar.co.uk/Semi-Auto/10-bore-gauge/AF/Shotguns?sstr=Browning%20Gold&ads_dist=25 .

Section 1 firearms:

Section 7.3 pistols:

If you want a real, fully operational handgun in the U.K. that isn't a muzzleloader, and you're not using it to euthanize animals, you either end up with a highly restricted novelty that you can't shoot and isn't allowed outside of your home, or you end up with a range toy that literally almost no one else is allowed to touch. And if it is to be transported, you can't transport it; only a Section 5 dealer is permitted to do that.

Examples of websites to buy from:

gunmart.net/guns_for_sale/19593/9mm-Glock-Model-17-Generation-4.html , valefirearms.co.uk , highwoodclassicarms.co.uk/Firerms%20For%20Sale/0048.htm .

All in all, here's the lowdown on what U.K. civilians can legally get with a Firearms Certificate.

(The above image comes credit of http://www.ukpreppersguide.co.uk/uk-weapons-and-firearms-law/legal-guns/ .)

Laws in Northern Ireland:

Extra facts:

According to gunpolicy.org/firearms/citation/quotes/6861, there are, as of 2011/2012, 3,417 registered firearms dealers in England & Wales. According to the BBC, 715 of them have approval to deal with Section 5 weapons. The types of guns that those websites offer needs some sort of a license to acquire and own. According to Gunpolicy dot org, there are about 1.34 licensed firearm owners per 100 people, and there are overall more of them than people in the U.S. states of Alaska or North Dakota, or the District of Columbia.


How common are illegal firearms (note the video below is rather political).

For more information, go to the video itself on YouTube and look in the description.

Why is all of this information important? Because I am sick and tired of seeing ignorance all around the world. I simply want people to, whenever they make an opinion, be properly informed so they can make the right opinion. If we are swayed by pure emotion, there will be a disaster. If you want me to elaborate, feel free to ask in the comments.


It would be very nice if this onto the front page of the BBC, Guardian, and Telegraph.


Note to owners and/or managers of the websites linked to in this article: you you wish for me to take down a link to your website, please make a comment below requesting the removal of the link of your site and I'll respond within 24 hours.

OPINION:

I also want you to really rethink how strict your country's gun control laws really need to be. Do you think that a single-shot air rifle with 12.1 ft/lbs of energy, or a .22BB cap rifle or a .32 caliber squirrel musket deserves to be in the same category with the Section 1 rifles, shotguns, pseudo-handguns and black-powder revolvers that I mentioned?

Also, do you really think that a smoothbore matchlock musket reproduction or a smoothbore .22 shotgun should be as tightly restricted as, say, a semi-automatic shotgun that holds 2+2 rounds?

So think about this:

Or this (with NO rifling).

Being as tightly restricted as these:

And remember, when the bottom one goes off, the results look something like this (the video shows a different gun, but it uses the exact same ammunition):

Keep in mind that France does not restrict the ownership of black powder guns (https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2248 https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=poudre+noire), but they don't have too much killing with them. They're also less restrictive on airguns (they allow airguns with the muzzle energy being up to 20 joules) than the U.K..

The Czech Republic has shall-issue concealed carry permits (if you request it, and you meet all of the on-paper requirements, you will get it), which allows the holder to carry anything up to 2 firearms (even semi-automatic carbines, though I'm not sure about "prohibited" firearms such as machine guns), locked-and-loaded, and possibly more guns with loaded magazines but no (live) rounds in the chamber at the same time, but it is not a very dangerous place to live.

Austria allows civilians to have repeating rifles and double, triple, and quadruple barrel shotguns without licenses, only requiring registration (which is generally seen in EU countries). 

And, Austria also does not regulate airguns that fire pellets that are larger than 6mm in diameter. So it would be legal to have a high-powered pellet rifle, machine gun, or pistol.

But, since the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union, the EU's firearms directive would no longer apply. 

In New Zealand, A-category 7-shot semi-automatic rifles and shotguns are permitted for civilians, unregistered. On a license with an E-category endorsement (mainly for pest animal controll and 3-gun shooting), one can have full-on assault weapons with no magazine limit.

Believe it or not, with a Category C endorsement on a license, one can own live machine guns, though they can't fire live ammunition through it, and they can only shoot it (with blanks) for moviemaking or reenactments. Some C-category guns are held for collection purposes (to give you an idea on what's avalible, look at https://www.guncity.com/firearms?facets=2~00000%7CC%20Cat%7CFirearms&sort=price1%20desc&rows=96). This is somewhat more permissive that the U.S., as that in New Zealand private individuals (not just businesses) can legally own new, fully operational machine guns and they do not need to pay for tax stamps to get those machine guns. Not to mention how people under 21 years old, as long as they have a Category B or C endorsement on their license, can legally obtain and own handguns and machine guns, something that is not legal in the U.S..

Even a 16 year old, with a license, can possess a A-category rifle or shotgun WITHOUT adult supervision.

In Canada, civilians can own:
. Semi-automatic 10 shot rifles (as that using a "pistol" magazine in a rifle is perfectly legal).

. .50 cal 5-shot semi-automatic rifles:

 . 5 shot detachable-magazine-fed semi-automatic shotguns:

. and 14 shot compact pump-action shotguns (there is no magazine limit for manual action firearms and rimfire longguns):

And this is all unregistered.

And, people under 18 may be awarded a minor's license if they can show a good reason to have it (http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/fs-fd/minor-mineur-eng.htm).

In Canada, it is total possible for a licensed 18 year old to purchase modern handguns by themselves (something that isn't legal in the U.S.). Sure, there is some red tape, but it's totally possible, and there are over a million handguns in Canada (http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/canada), not including antiques.

This is just something to think about.