Question on the law and transporting airguns

Bart Simpson

Bart Simpson

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So both my clubs are best reached from my home via public transport. I live near a train station and they are both near train stations (in opposite directions). My FAC stuff lives solely at the clubs but I tend to bring airguns home. Specifically I have a Steyr air pistol and that I take between the clubs and home. It travels in its hard case, with a padlock, in a standard, laptop rucksack, so entirely discrete.

My understanding of the law is that you cannot have a airgun in public without good reason but travelling to a from a range is good reason.

Now the train station is on the high street so once on the way there (with the rucksack on my back) I stopped by the post office to drop off a parcel. Once on the way back I stopped by Tesco's to get some milk. It was convenient to run those errands as part of the trip.

Now I've not done this so far but, for instance, I have an opticians appointment tomorrow and was planning to go to the club after (as I'll be near the train station anyway) and it would be nice to have my Steyr with me at the club. Is it wrong to have the rucksack with me at the appointment? Another example is a local friend wants to meet for a coffee. Would it be wrong to meet him in Starbucks on the way to the club with said rucksack?

Is it best just to focus on going to and fro only when carrying an air pistol and not get distracted or am I over thinking it?
 
Interesting question... I think travelling to the club is a genuine reason but I'd probably say do yourself a favour and

* Keep pellets in a separate case, even in the same bag - just demonstrate they're clearly separate things
* Ideally have some means of demonstrating you're going to the range rather than using it as an excuse - if you need or can reserve a spot, having that on your phone or something would be handy, and if you have a range membership card or something, have that easily accessible
 
From the governments website:
www.gov.uk

Air weapons: a brief guide to safety (accessible)

www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

it is an offence to have an air weapon in a public place without a reasonable excuse. It is ultimately for the courts to decide what a reasonable excuse is. However, it might include carrying a weapon to and from a shooting club, or taking a new weapon home from a dealer

So from the above, as long as you are on your way to and from you are fine. It doesn't go into detail on making detours from the route, but I agree with the above that as long as you are fully compliant with the carrying of the gun and ammunition separately etc, have insurance and any range documentation with you, I can't see an issue.

It's not bad to ask these things though, always better to be sure than risk an serious incident with the law 👍
 
I would say straight to the club and back if possible but if you need to go via other places , don't bring attention to yourself. I was stopped by police Walking to my permission with my rifle in my gun bag and reported to firearms licensing. It was all sorted out and I had done nothing wrong.

I was advised not to bring attention to myself when transporting them.
 
The problem here is we are tending to think what we assess as reasonable and ok but the only opinion that matters is those of the constabulary. Maybe it’s like Mot on a car, you are allowed to take a car whose mot has elapsed to a pre booked appointed at your chosen garage but not run round doing errands prior you must go direct there and if a fail is issued you must go straight home or to your repairer.
 
Just take it as normal if your discreet, no one need know, and it's not against the law to have an appointment or a coffee on your way to or from a range, so rest easy. Even though the same could be said of a rifle, I'd be a bit more careful of that, but if it's in a locked case then your covered legally, who is to know what's in the case, especially if it's not a gun shaped bag ;)
 
Strip down the gin entirely, and store each part / fixing in a separate box.

Each box is to be locked with a different brand of padlock.

Each padlock key is to be mailed to the range a few days ahead of your visit.

The full process must be repeated, in reverse, before you leave the range.
 
Bart Simpson said:
So both my clubs are best reached from my home via public transport. I live near a train station and they are both near train stations (in opposite directions). My FAC stuff lives solely at the clubs but I tend to bring airguns home. Specifically I have a Steyr air pistol and that I take between the clubs and home. It travels in its hard case, with a padlock, in a standard, laptop rucksack, so entirely discrete.

My understanding of the law is that you cannot have a airgun in public without good reason but travelling to a from a range is good reason.

Now the train station is on the high street so once on the way there (with the rucksack on my back) I stopped by the post office to drop off a parcel. Once on the way back I stopped by Tesco's to get some milk. It was convenient to run those errands as part of the trip.

Now I've not done this so far but, for instance, I have an opticians appointment tomorrow and was planning to go to the club after (as I'll be near the train station anyway) and it would be nice to have my Steyr with me at the club. Is it wrong to have the rucksack with me at the appointment? Another example is a local friend wants to meet for a coffee. Would it be wrong to meet him in Starbucks on the way to the club with said rucksack?

Is it best just to focus on going to and fro only when carrying an air pistol and not get distracted or am I over thinking it?
Click to expand...
You'd think common sense would allow you to do more than one thing on your journey. But then again the law isn't always common sense. Especially if you end up before a grumpy judge.

Personally I'd avoid it where possible. But seeing as you're already going to lengths to avoid anyone noticing, I'd guess you're going to be ok most times stopping off in the shop etc.

Knife laws apparently are very strict, if you're a carpet fitter and need to carry a box knife for work, you can't stop for a pint on the way home with it. Or that's what I read somewhere, if the grey matter remembers correctly.
 
ScotRail will do not allow them on the trains. Airguns are firearms in UK law.

National Rail Conditions of Travel.

"23.4 - Unloaded firearms, properly licenced, with prior permission of the Train Company and carried in accordance with the law and any other specific instructions are permitted."

The position of ScotRail is that we do not allow the carriage of licenced firearms on our services.

Find out more about the National Rail Conditions of Travel


Some will allow them .

www.bbc.co.uk

BASC welcomes Caledonian Sleeper position on firearms

A boss at the firm operating the Caledonian Sleeper said licensed firearms were permitted on the service.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
 
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Bighit said:
ScotRail will do not allow them on the trains.

National Rail Conditions of Travel.

"23.4 - Unloaded firearms, properly licenced, with prior permission of the Train Company and carried in accordance with the law and any other specific instructions are permitted."

The position of ScotRail is that we do not allow the carriage of licenced firearms on our services.

Find out more about the National Rail Conditions of Travel
Click to expand...
Please forgive my ignorance, but I was under the impression that Scotland requires an Air Weapon license, which is not the same as a “firearm”
 
Aimless said:
Please forgive my ignorance, but I was under the impression that Scotland requires an Air Weapon license, which is not the same as a “firearm”
Click to expand...
We do need an Air Weapon Certificate (AWC) but they are still classed as firearms . Commit an offence with an airgun and its classed a firearms offence .
 
This is something I'm actually very careful about, as it's caught a few people out. Though I'm not aware of any cases with airguns, the law has been pretty well established with knives, and other weapons.

Strictly speaking, you should go directly to your range/perm, then drop the guns at home before going out again.

The way the law looks at it, is did you have good reason to have an airgun at Tesco's? Or do you have good reason to take an air gun when going for a coffee? If not your good reason defense fails.

In practise there should be some consideration of how much of a detour it was, and if the stop is effectively another activity. So say stopping at a takeaway van for 5 mins en route for a coffee to go is fairly unlikely to be prosecuted. Stopping at the pub for an hour or two likely would.

I think there was a carpet fitter back in the 80's who was charged with having a stanley knife after stopping at the pub for several hours on the way home from work. That was deemed to not be good reason. There have been similar cases too since then, so the precedent is set.

I can't see a normal shop being happy about someone taking an airgun into their store either, and if anyone would have clocked what it was, however inadvertantly, you'd likely get lift from the local ARU, so that's another consideration.
 
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Bart Simpson said:
So both my clubs are best reached from my home via public transport. I live near a train station and they are both near train stations (in opposite directions). My FAC stuff lives solely at the clubs but I tend to bring airguns home. Specifically I have a Steyr air pistol and that I take between the clubs and home. It travels in its hard case, with a padlock, in a standard, laptop rucksack, so entirely discrete.

My understanding of the law is that you cannot have a airgun in public without good reason but travelling to a from a range is good reason.

Now the train station is on the high street so once on the way there (with the rucksack on my back) I stopped by the post office to drop off a parcel. Once on the way back I stopped by Tesco's to get some milk. It was convenient to run those errands as part of the trip.

Now I've not done this so far but, for instance, I have an opticians appointment tomorrow and was planning to go to the club after (as I'll be near the train station anyway) and it would be nice to have my Steyr with me at the club. Is it wrong to have the rucksack with me at the appointment? Another example is a local friend wants to meet for a coffee. Would it be wrong to meet him in Starbucks on the way to the club with said rucksack?

Is it best just to focus on going to and fro only when carrying an air pistol and not get distracted or am I over thinking it?
Click to expand...
Do you not think people like deerstalkers can hold thier bladder from the midlands to say wick in the Scottish highlands ? We need to work on the basics of common sense , even though common sense is getting rare i feel
 
As long as you take reasonable precautions while travelling then its fine to stop while transporting them .

Stopping for a pee , fuel and so on would be fine

basc.org.uk

Guns in vehicles

Tim Ryan of Warners solicitors explores the subject of guns in vehicles and the police’s stop and search procedure.
basc.org.uk basc.org.uk

Also don't forget while your car is on the public roads its classed as a public place . Many have been caught out and not known this.

“Public place” is defined to include “any highway and any other premises or place to which at the material time the public have or are permitted to have access, whether on payment or otherwise.”
 
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