Questions we get asked

Yes, for anything held on certificate. You need a Firearm Certificate (FAC) for rifles and other Section 1 firearms, and a Shotgun Certificate (SGC) for most shotguns. Your certificate must be valid on the day of the transfer and must have room on it for what you are buying.

Heritage and Humane dispatch pistols are available only to holders of the appropriate Home Office Section 5 authority or to FAC holders with a variation for a heritage or humane dispatch pistol. Accessories, and antiques acquired as curiosities or ornaments, generally need nothing.

Every listing states which applies.

You need a variation from your police licensing department before we can transfer it to you. We are happy to hold the gun for a reasonable period while that goes through, and to supply anything the force asks for in writing about the specific firearm.

No. We do not sell firearms, shotguns, ammunition or airguns to anyone under 18, and we ask for photographic identification if there is any doubt.

Ammunition is sold in person only, against a valid certificate with the relevant authority to acquire and hold, and it is entered in our register at the point of sale. We do not post ammunition.

Yes. Every transfer is recorded in our register of transactions and notified to the certificate holder's issuing police force within the period the law requires. You do not need to do anything for this — but you should still keep your own certificate up to date.

Section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 covers prohibited weapons and prohibited ammunition — the categories that sit outside the ordinary certificate system altogether.

To possess, acquire, sell or transfer a Section 5 item you need a specific Section 5 authority, granted by the Home Office in England and Wales and by Scottish Ministers in Scotland. It is granted for named items and purposes, not as a general permission.

However, there are exceptions where an FAC holder can have a Section 5 firearm on their certificate. They are heritage and humane dispatch pistols.

There are two categories of heritage pistol: Section 7(1) and Section 7(3). An FAC may be varied for either 7(1) or 7(3), but there are special conditions.

A Section 7(1) heritage pistol must be:

• made before 1 January 1919;
• of a calibre for which ammunition is not readily available;
• kept as part of a collection.

You must not fire it, and it can be kept at home like any other FAC firearm.

A Section 7(3) heritage pistol must be:

• kept at a heritage site;
• of a type that conforms to one of the four descriptions listed in the Home Office Guide on Firearms Licensing Law;
• kept as part of a collection.

It can be fired.

This is only a basic explanation. Please refer to the section “Heritage Pistols” in the Home Office Guide on Firearms Licensing Law for a full explanation of Section 7(1) and 7(3).

Typically a revolver in .38 Special or .357 Magnum, modified to fire only two shots before reloading. You would have to justify to your police firearms licensing department why you need one.

Yes — but only a heritage pistol (Section 7(1) or 7(3)) or a humane dispatch pistol, and only if your FAC has been varied for it by your police firearms licensing department.

Any other Section 5 item needs a specific Section 5 authority.

Enquire as normal and include your authority reference. We verify the authority itself and check that it actually covers the item in question — authorities are specific, and one that permits a particular item does not permit everything in the section.

Once that is confirmed we agree terms, complete the transfer in person and make the notifications the law requires.

Because the people who can lawfully buy it — authorised dealers, and organisations holding an authority for a specific purpose — need to know what is available. The listing is public; the sale is not open to the public. Every item in that section is marked accordingly.

Two things have to line up. The gun must fall within the categories the law treats as antique — that turns on obsolete cartridge calibres and obsolete propulsion systems, set out in regulations rather than simply on age — and it must be possessed as a curiosity or ornament, which is the exemption in section 58(2) of the Firearms Act 1968.

An old gun that fires a cartridge you can still buy is not an antique in law, whatever its date.

Usually, yes — if you are genuinely acquiring it as a curiosity or an ornament. It does not have to be on display; keeping it stored is fine.

But the exemption turns on why you hold it. Acquiring suitable ammunition for it, or anything else pointing to an intention to fire it, takes the gun outside the exemption and into certificate territory. Collectors of bulleted cartridges need police authority to hold them regardless of the cartridges' age.

Then it is not an antique for these purposes and you need the appropriate certificate, with the gun entered on it. Tell us at the outset and we will sell it to you on that basis — it saves an awkward conversation later, and it is the honest way round.

Gun cases and slips, cabinets and safes, cleaning kit, snap caps, chokes and spanners, slings, hearing and eye protection, and similar. None of it needs a certificate, and we are happy to post it to a home address — accessories are the one thing on this site that we can.

Book a time to bring it in and we will look at it, free and without obligation. Do not assume it is an antique, and do not assume it is not — either mistake can matter. If you have inherited a gun and are not certificated, contact your police firearms licensing department promptly for advice on holding it lawfully in the meantime.

No. We deliver all Section 1 and 2 guns to Registered Firearms Dealers only.

We can, however, post deactivated guns, antiques and accessories direct to your door like any other parcel.

You buy a gun from us and then send us your FAC (not a copy). We fill it in and send the gun and your FAC to a dealer of your choice, and you pick up from them.

Most dealers charge a small handling fee for this, payable to them.

Our carriage charge depends on the item and destination, and is quoted before you commit. Your receiving dealer's handling fee is separate and set by them.

Please do — it is the option we prefer too. Visits are by appointment: ring or message us, and we will confirm a time and give you the address. Bring your certificate, and we will have the gun out and ready rather than under three others on the rack.

You can collect and transport Section 1, Section 2, Section 7(1) and humane dispatch pistols once they have been entered onto your certificate. However, you cannot take away Section 7(3) guns, which must travel to their destination by a Section 5 courier.

Because a premises full of firearms is not something to advertise the location of. We are in Hastings, East Sussex, and we give you the address when you arrange to come — which takes one phone call or message.

It is not us being difficult, and it is not a sign we are hard to find. It is the same reason you do not put a sign on your gun cabinet.

Export involves separate licensing and we handle it only case by case. Ask us before you commit to anything.

Often, yes. Ring or message to arrange a time, bring it in with your certificate, and we will make you an honest offer — or tell you plainly if it is not something we can move. There is no charge for a valuation.

Yes. On commission we photograph it, list it, field the enquiries and handle all the paperwork, and you get the balance when it sells. We will explain the commission rate before you leave the gun with us.

By bank transfer or cash within the legal limit.

Second-hand guns are sold in the condition described, and we would rather over-describe a fault than under-describe it. If something is materially not as we described it, tell us — we will put it right. Your statutory rights as a consumer are unaffected.

Firearm and shotgun certificates are normally valid for five years from the date of grant or renewal.

BASC advises applying 20 to 24 weeks before expiry. Many forces have significant backlogs, and leaving it late is the single most common reason people end up unable to shoot. Our renewal checker works the dates out for you.

If you applied in good time you can ask your force for a Section 7 temporary permit. Home Office guidance is that this should be granted automatically where the application was submitted at least eight weeks before expiry. It extends your existing certificate's conditions for up to eight weeks, or until the force decides your application, whichever comes first — and further permits can be issued if needed.

This is guidance, not a guarantee. Speak to your firearms licensing department directly.

A medical report from your GP is now required for shotgun and firearm applications, whether a first grant or a renewal. Arrange it early — GP surgeries vary enormously in how quickly they turn these round.

No. Possessing or acquiring a firearm without a valid certificate or permit is a criminal offence. Contact your firearms licensing department immediately, and come back to us once you are covered.