In the United Kingdom, access by the general public to firearms is subject to some of the strictest control measures in the world. Subject to licensing, members of the public may own rifles and shotguns. However, most handguns have been banned in Great Britain since the Dunblane school massacre in 1996. Handguns are permitted in Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man which have their own legislation. Scotland imposes an additional licensing regime on airguns, which is not mirrored in England and Wales.
Mass shootings are extremely rare in the United Kingdom. There have only been five major shootings carried out by a civilian in British history: the 1987 Hungerford massacre; 1989 Monkseaton shootings; the 1996 Dunblane massacre; the 2010 Cumbria shootings and the 2021 Plymouth shooting. Concerns are raised periodically over the availability of illegal firearms.
Summary
UK law defines a firearm as:
a lethal barrelled weapon; a prohibited weapon, as defined under section 5; a relevant component part; or an accessory designed or adapted to diminish the noise or flash caused by firing the weapon.
A "lethal barrelled weapon" is defined as a "barrelled weapon of any description from which a shot, bullet or other missile, with kinetic energy of more than one joule as measured at the muzzle of the weapon, can be discharged".
This brings any qualifying article into scope of firearms legislation. Airsoft guns - which have a muzzle-energy below 1 joule - are not classified as firearms but often qualify as "Realistic Imitation Firearms", subject to separate restrictions under the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006.
By default, firearms fall under "Section 1" of the 1968 Act, meaning they can be held by private individuals who possess a Firearm Certificate with appropriate conditions. Grant of a Firearm Certificate is contingent on demonstrating one of the two good reasons - full membership of a Home Office Approved target club, or performing hunting or pest-control work. This "by default" approach means novel types of firearm need not be explicitly legislated for and are - at a minimum - automatically covered by Section 1. Further legislation may then impose different restrictions on specific types of firearm.
The most common examples of re-classification include: Airguns deemed "not especially dangerous", which may be held without any form of licence in England and Wales. Most shotguns - held on a Section 2 Shotgun Certificate. Prohibited Weapons - those defined under Section 5 of the 1968 Act, which are generally prohibited. Includes machine guns, most semi-automatic rifles, most handguns, tasers, incapacitating sprays and certain types of ammunition. Antiques - some "obsolete" firearms for which ammunition is no longer available may be held without requiring a Certificate. Section 7 - Firearms of particular historic or technical value may be held by collectors or museums, even though they would normally be prohibited under Section 5.
Ammunition for firearms may only be possessed by the holder of a Firearm Certificate with authority to possess that type of ammunition. Shotgun cartridges can legally be possessed by anybody over the age of 15. No licence is required to possess such ammunition so long as the cartridges contain 5 or more shots.
The Scottish Parliament cannot legislate on firearms. Firearms regulation is reserved to Westminster, with the exception of air guns since 2012.
In Northern Ireland, firearms regulation is devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly and primarily regulated by the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004, which differs from the law in Great Britain. For instance, most handguns remain classified as Section 1, not Section 5 (prohibited weapons).
Legal classification
Rifles
UK law does not provide a statutory definition for a "rifle". Most long firearms with rifled barrels will - by default - be classified as Section 1, and can be held on a Firearm Certificate. This includes single-shot; bolt-action; Martini-action; lever-action (also called under-lever action) and revolver rifles in any calibre. Self-loading and pump-action rifles are only permitted in .22 rimfire calibre.
Prohibited rifles include: Fully-automatic rifles Select-fire rifles Self-loading and pump-action rifles except in .22 rimfire calibres MARS and Lever-release rifles (not to be confused with lever-action rifles)