Firearms license

[TomW]

You must have the landowners permission. There's also a distance from the centre of the road rule which in my head is 20m but please check.

If you shoot a bird and it lands on your neighbours land its legally theirs. However most would not have a problem with you retrieving it. Best to ask first though if you can, never know you might get more space to shoot over. If you haven't been able to ask make your gun safe and leave it behind when you go to fetch the bird. To take it with you converts the civil matter of 'trespass' into the much more serious 'armed trespass'. Probably would never be a problem but it only takes one pissed off neighbour to ruin your day.

With the house so close you will need to watch where your shooting, its very easy when following a bird through your sights to blur out the background completely. Shot doesn't go very far so if you gave a good 250m gap even the falling shot wouldn't reach.

There's no reason you wouldn't get a gun for that money, will probably be a non ejecting, side by side but tha'ts no problem. I've done an awful lot of shooting of all types with a gun of that description and never felt disadvantaged.

[Slimslim]

Brilliant that sounds pretty promising then

Had a look on Guntrader and theres a few shotguns for my budget range! But yeah the land belongs to my Step-Dad and Mum, shes already given me provisional permisson (Thanks to a hen stalking fox) and the Top-field is easily over 250m away from the house. In terms of road their house is down a private road, so with the gate, driveway and the house I would say that all the garden/fields are 20m away from the road.

[TomW]

Sounds like you're sorted then
In terms of the cabinet I've been thinking and seem to remember that the address where your shotgun is kept can be different from where you live. So theoretically you're cabinet could be at your mum's place even if you lived away. The aim is to stop any unauthorized access so they can't have keys nor anyone else. Now if your mum or step dad have been sent down for summit serious it might be difficult but speak to your local firearms officer when you start the application process and they'll give you a good idea of what's what.
Hope it works out and don't forget to budget a bit for the cabinet, gunslip, cleaning kit and ammo. Still doesn't need to be expensive though!

Good luck and happy shooting

[Plymtom]

Looking through the older stuff I found this thread answers some questions for me, and raises some concerns, but I thought someone may be able to answer a few questions we all may like to know the answer to.


Just in terms of costs so we can save our pennies if it looks possible

What would be the rough sort of budget to buy/get a license a shotgun and all the parifinalia associated with it new or realistic secondhand?
What is the rough price of ammo ( I know this will vary for gauge/and intended target but like me folks must be wondering so examples would be appreciated)

Actually the same question(s) for Rifles, FAC, and different calibres would be great too, dont forget ammo.

If someone really knowledgeable or from experience can tell us current sorts of prices you can expect to pay for clay shooting, target shooting, club memberships etc that would be handy to know too, I am making local enquiries because whether owning a gun or not, just from loving shooting airguns, and rifles when in cadets donkeys years ago, seeing all the talk is rekindling the desire to partake in the activities, even get into vermin control ( I know there is something around these parts aimed at putting farmers with the need in touch with enthusiasts ) regardless of usefulness in prepping or impending doom situations, shooting /archery/catapults, both target and hunting for food/controlling vermin are things I am getting more interested in doing for pleasure as well as practicality so all rough guides on costs would be greatly appreciated ( yes I know archery hunting is illegal it's lumped in because it's fun too)

[JamesMR]

Do you not have to have a reason to possess a shotgun such as going to a local range or for pest control on a farm etc? If you live in the middle of a city surely they are going to wonder why you want one and with no place to use it will not grant you a certificate?

Or does it not work like that?

[mole hill]

A shotgun licence is the easier to get, as long as you haven't been in trouble with the law, and you've got to have a good reason to want a gun. Ive got a shotgun and fac licence, i think its £50 for the two. Have a look at this site for an idea of prices http://www.guntrader.co.uk/

[Lucky Jim]

Food for thought- in a Brit reality TV show about the police recently, they pulled over a young chap for a minor traffic offence and noticed a baseball bat on the back seat.
They got chatting to him and he seemed friendly enough, they kept gently trying to find out why he'd got the bat, and at first he gave answers like "It just happens to be there"...I don't really know why Ive got it...It's there for no particular reason" etc, and apparently they couldn't arrest him for simply having it.
But then he put his foot in it by saying "I might need it for self-defence", so they nicked him for admitting carrying a weapon!
They told him "The instant you admitted you intended using it for defence, it no longer became a baseball bat in the eyes of the law, it became a weapon!"
Obviously he should have kept his trap shut!
So it would seem that if we had a shotgun or any firearm (or was applying for a licence), we should NEVER mention that we might need it for self-defence, or else the law would confiscate it and probably nick us as well..

[Plymtom]

JamesMR wrote

Do you not have to have a reason to possess a shotgun such as going to a local range or for pest control on a farm etc? If you live in the middle of a city surely they are going to wonder why you want one and with no place to use it will not grant you a certificate?

Or does it not work like that?

I was working on the asumption that those points were covered James theres been lots of disscussion and not just on this thread, what I'm after is the cost of the activity from an experienced shooters perspective, if through bargain hunting it can be done cheaper then great, but I reckon a straight up estimate could be really useful, you know cleaning kit's, safes, carry cases, even ammo, if you're going down the clay shooting road how much that costs a session and how many goes do you get?

That site Mole Hill linked is pretty good actually cheers , my mistake thus far has been looking at shops locally knowing full well going too far afield for pick up would be an issue, but deals can be done with local dealers to get stuff sent so as it can be picked up locally I believe, or other postage options when you are licensed may be possible, clearly firearms based activities require research, the many threads here have convinced me that it may be worth considering more seriously ( all the talk I have heard of the police living on your doorstep and difficulties in getting a license appear overstated) I'm already communicating with a local target shooting .22 rifle club which for my family may be the best short term option, go and loan guns to test the activity, and take it from there, there are farmers looking for shooting enthusiasts ( or were last year) for vermin control apparently, and the local gun shops liaise to put them in touch, which is something air gunners are into, so airguns could be used here and now for hunting with permission, perhaps moving to other types of gun in time, whilst building experience on the way.

Jim yes absolutely, that's partially why getting into these activities properly for the acceptable purpose seems so logical to me, for me and mine who have no interest in any of the more mainstream sports, would look guilty as hell having baseball or cricket bats kicking around, yet the ritual knives look inocent by comparison, I had a couple of police standing in this room chating about another matter and they didn't seem to make anything of it

[JamesMR]

^ My mistake, I didn't read the entire thread and just asked my question, whoops

[Plymtom]

No worries James it's a chance one takes digging up old threads, but (hopefully) shows those who invested all that time and effort making them, that we who come along later appreciate it