page_title: Firearms Act 1968
section_title: Prohibited Firearms and Ammunition
hierarchical_section_title: Firearms Act 1968 / Prohibited Firearms and Ammunition
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of Remington Make: Model: 1187 Caliber: 12 gauge
context_page_description: The Firearms Act 1968 is a UK Act of Parliament, controlling use and possession of firearms.
  Since 1968, the act has been extensively amended. Following the Hungerford massacre, the Firearms Act 1988 extended the class of prohibited weapons. Following the Dunblane school massacre, two acts were passed, the Firearms Act 1997 and, after the general election that year, the Firearms Act 1997, which in effect banned almost all handguns. The Policing and Crime Act 2017 brought clarity to aspects of the act, following a recommendation from the Law Commission.
context_section_description: Section five of Part One of the Act states that a prohibited firearm is one which;
  Fires more than one ammunition when the trigger is pressed
  Is a self-loading or pump-action rifled gun except when chambered for .22 rim-fire cartridges;
  Has a barrel less than 30 centimetres in length or is less than 60 centimetres in length overall, except air weapons, muzzle-loading gun or signalling firearms
  Is a self-loading or pump-action smooth-bore gun which is not an air weapon or chambered for .22 rim-fire cartridges and has a barrel less than 24 inches in length or less than 40 inches in length overall
  Is a smooth-bore revolver gun except chambered for 9mm. rim-fire cartridges or a muzzle-loading gun
  Is a rocket launcher or mortar except when designed for line-throwing, pyrotechnic purposes, or for signalling 
  Air firearm which uses a self-contained gas cartridge system, i.e. the Brocock system of pump-up cartridges, each with their own pellet, but not a CO₂ bulb system.
  Weapon of whatever description designed or adapted for the discharge of any noxious liquid, gas or other
  For ammunition it is prohibited if it; 
  Are designed to explode on or immediately before impact
  Contain any such noxious item
  Consists of a missile
  Prohibited firearms and ammunition may only be possessed, purchased, sold, gifted or manufactured with authority from the government; as enacted this was from the Defence Council, as of 2020 this is from the Secretary of State.
caption: Remington 11-87 shotgun
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