Changes to UK Law - Notification of Deactivated Firearms

From 12th December 2019, under the Firearms Regulations 2019, DWSUK is required by law to notify all transfers (sales) of deactivated firearms to the Home Office. Full details of this requirement can be found here. The notication requirements within the legislation extend not just to dealers but also to collectors who have a legal obligation to notify the Home Office of what they have in their possession and of any subsequent transfers.

Where you purchase from us, we will complete the required notification and you will not need to complete any further notifications on the purchased item until you transfer/sell it. This applies to all applicable deactivated firearms sold by us from 12th December 2019.

If you have purchased an applicable deactivated firearm from us prior to 12/12/2019, you will need to submit a notification for it to the Home Office. Forms for submitting your notifications can be found here - both for notifying items in your possession and notifying of their transfer (separate forms).

Not all deactivated firearms have to be notified and there is a transitional period which applies to items in your possession prior to 14th September 2018. These do not have to be notified until 14th March 2021 unless you transfer them prior to this date. Please see below for an outline of what does and does not need to be notified:

• Firearms deactivated to any UK legacy specification (prior to April 8th 2016) do not need to be notified
• Firearms which fall outside of the scope of the EU Regulations including flare pistols, launchers and mortars do not need to be notified
• Firearms deactivated to EU Regulations 2015/2403 and 2018/337 do have to be notified for possession (normally any deactivated firearm with a yellow certificate bearing an EU flag). However, the Home Office has indicated that it does not want to receive notifications for the earlier EU specification (EU 2015/2403) until 14/03/2021
• Firearms deactivated to EU Regulation 2018/337 do have to be notified for transfer
• Firearms deactivated to EU Regulation 2015/2403 should not be notified for transfer as these now fall under Section 8A of the Firearms Amendment Act and can't be transferred.