We have enclosed the information to help you get the most out of your gun by using it safely and responsibly.

Safety

Airguns can, in the wrong hands, be lethal. However, by following a set of simple rules, you can ensure that you are never the cause of an accident.

1. Always assume your gun is loaded.
2. Never point your gun even if you think it is unloaded at another person.
3. Never carry your weapon loaded.
4. When in public keep it secure out of view in a case or gun-slip.
5. Only load your gun when you are ready to shoot and not before.
6. Never let your gun out of your sight when on a shoot.
7. Never use someone else’s gun without their permission.
8. Never let minors near your gun unsupervised.
9. Always make each shot you take is a Safe one. Make sure you have a backstop to catch pellets and stop ricochets.
10. Always store your gun and ammunition separately.
11. After use, make sure your gun is unloaded and secured safely.
12. Never shoot if you are unsure it is safe.

Getting Started

Air weapons are mainly sold from firearms dealerships and outdoor sports shops.

Air rifles with muzzle energies of less than twelve foot pounds (16.3 joules) and air pistols with muzzle energies of less than six foot pounds (8.15 joules) can be bought by any person aged seventeen years or more.

However, if you want an air rifle with a muzzle energy greater than twelve foot pounds, you must first obtain a firearm certificate from your local police firearms licensing department. Air pistols with muzzle energies greater than six foot pounds or air pistols and air rifles which use the self contained gas cartridge system (these used to be manufactured by Brocock as BACS Cartridges and does NOT include the CO2 cartridges used in CO2 rifles and pistols) are prohibited weapons which may only be acquired with the authority of the Secretary of State. If you are in any doubt, seek advice from your local police firearms licensing department.

Having bought your gun, you can use it for a number of purposes including target

shooting, vermin control and hunting small ground game. However, if you have never

shot before, you would be well advised to go to a shooting club with an airgun section

and learn from a qualified instructor how to handle your gun safely and responsibly and

become an accurate shot. You may find that target shooting provides all the challenge you need or you may want to move on to shooting live quarry.

If you do move on to live quarry shooting you must be careful only to shoot on private

property over which you have permission to shoot. Provided you follow the safety rules

contained in this leaflet, you will be able to shoot safely and enjoyably even on quite

small pieces of ground.

Airguns and the law

Although air weapons, with very few exceptions as outlined above, are not required to be kept on a firearm certificate, they are still classed as firearms and fall under the control of the firearms legislation.

As an airgun shooter, you must make sure that you know the law and keep within it. If

you don´t, you could find yourself in court facing charges with sanctions ranging from

heavy fines right up to life imprisonment. The following is a list of the laws by which you

must abide and you might be surprised at just how long it is.

• It is an offence to sell or make a gift of an air weapon to a person under seventeen

years of age.

• It is an offence for anyone under seventeen to carry an air weapon unless -

they are under the supervision of a person aged twenty one or more or

they are on private land and have permission from the occupier or

they are shooting as a member of an approved club or

they are shooting at a shooting gallery for miniature rifles.

• It is an offence for a person under seventeen shooting unsupervised on private land to allow any pellets to cross the boundaries of the property.

• It is an offence for any person, regardless of age, to be in possession of an air weapon in a public place without a reasonable excuse. A reasonable excuse might be carrying a gun to and from a target shooting club or to and from land on which you have permission to shoot. It would also include taking a gun to and from a gunsmith for repair or service or taking a new gun home from the dealer.

• It is an offence to trespass with an air weapon, be that in a building or on land.

• It is an offence to have an air weapon if you are a person prohibited from possessing a

firearm by section 21 of the 1968 Act. This section prohibits anyone who has been

sentenced to a custodial sentence of between three months and three years from

possessing an air weapon or other firearm for five years from the date of release.

Anyone sentenced to three years or more is prohibited for life.

• It is an offence to fire your gun within fifty feet (fifteen metres) of the centre of a public

road in such a way as to endanger or impede any road user.

• It is an offence to shoot protected wild birds or animals. When live quarry shooting,

it is your responsibility to make sure that you only shoot legal quarry.

• It is an offence to shoot pet animals. Besides being abhorrent to most people, this is, above all others, the offence that gives all air weapon shooters a bad name.

• It is an offence to have an air weapon with intent to damage property.

• It is an offence to have an air weapon with intent to endanger life.

This may seem a long and onerous list, but it is all no more than common sense. If you use your gun safely and responsibly, you will be in no danger of committing an offence.

In Conclusion

You should always remember that airguns are capable of inflicting severe injuries and even of killing people.

Irresponsible owners have given airgun shooters a bad name by breaking windows,

shooting pets and protected wild birds and even sniping at people. You can do your bit

to help change this perception by using your gun in a way that demonstrates that air

weapon shooters are, in the main, responsible people who pose no threat to anyone. Always follow the guidelines set out in this information.

Useful contacts

The following is a list of organisations which can help you get the most out of your gun.

The National Smallbore Rifle Association

Lord Roberts Centre

Bisley Camp

Brookwood

Woking

Surrey, GU24 0NP

The British Association for Shooting

and Conservation

Marford Mill

Rossett

Wrexham

Clwyd, LL12 0HL

The British Shooting Sports Council

PO Box 11

Bexhill on Sea

TN40 1ZZ

The Gun Trade Association Ltd

PO Box 43

Tewkesbury

Gloucestershire

GL20 5ZE

The most important rule of gun handling……

NEVER POINT A GUN, LOADED OR UNLOADED, IN AN UNSAFE DIRECTION

It is estimated that there are four million air rifles in the UK, the vast majority of which are used in a safe and responsible manner. This leaflet offers guidance and advice to those who acquire and use them.

Above all, safety is the most important consideration. Always know where the muzzle of your air rifle is pointing and NEVER point it in an unsafe direction.

Whenever you shoot, make sure you know where the pellet is going to end up before you pull the trigger.

THE LAW

Firearms Acts 1968-1997/Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2004

Air Rifles and Young Persons -

17 years and over
You may buy, borrow or hire an air rifle and its ammunition and may use it where you have permission to do so.

Aged 14 – 17 years
You may not buy or hire an air rifle or ammunition. You may not receive an air rifle or ammunition as a gift but you may borrow one. If you are under 17 then your air rifle and ammunition must be bought for you by someone over 17 – normally your parent, guardian or some other responsible adult.

If you are aged between 14 – 17 years you may use an air rifle on private premises without supervision with the consent of the occupier – normally the owner or tenant. However, if you allow a pellet to go outside of the premises whilst you are shooting then you commit a criminal offence.

You may not carry an air rifle in a public place unless you are supervised by a person of 21 years or over and you have a reasonable excuse to do so, for example, whilst on the way to a club or land where you have permission to shoot. It is common sense to carry the air rifle in a gun cover and you should always ensure that it is unloaded.

Young people under 14 years
If you are under 14 you may not buy, hire or receive an air rifle or its ammunition as a gift.

You may borrow an air rifle and use it under supervision on private premises with permission from the occupier – normally the owner or tenant. The person who supervises you must be of or over 21 years of age.

If a pellet leaves the premises whilst you are shooting then both you and the person supervising you commit a criminal offence.

Parents or guardians who buy an air rifle for use by an under 14 year old must exercise control over it at all time even in the home or garden.

Public Places
A public place is anywhere where the public are allowed to go even though they may have to pay to be there. Roads, streets, footpaths, public parks, play areas and canal towpaths are all examples of public places.

It is an offence for anyone to have an air rifle – whether it is loaded or not – in a public place unless they have a reasonable excuse for doing so, for example, whilst on the way to a gunshop or to a shooting club.

Trespass
It is against the law to trespass on any land (including land covered by water) or in any building, while you have an air rifle with you. Whether the gun is loaded and whether or not you have pellets with you is irrelevant. If you go onto land without permission, you are trespassing, unless there is some right of access for the public. If there is a right of access for the public the restrictions set out above will apply.
Trespass with an air rifle is 'armed trespass', a criminal offence, the penalties for which can be severe.

As well as the offences already mentioned, it is against the law, in England and Wales, to fire an air rifle within 50 feet of the centre of a highway, if by doing so you cause any member of the public, using that right of way, to be injured, interrupted or endangered. This offence could be committed, for example, by someone on private property close to a road who uses an air rifle in a way which endangers people on the road.