is a ratcatcher classed as a pistol?

[HuntingOnline1 0]

copper probably an anti mate:L

[SportingShooter 0]

First of all, the circumstances of how the gun came into the possession of the Police officer is needed to clarify the situation.

 

Police can seize any property if they have reasonable cause to believe that it has been involved in an offence or was likely to be. If the officer decided to seize the gun for that reason, then he is entitled to do so.

 

In my view, the Ratcatcher is designated a rifle. If that gun is found to be running at under 12 ft/lbs then it is completely legal and above board. The same goes for the Moderator. There is no requirement for a Certificate, Variation or permit to posses for a Moderator destined for an Air Gun.

 

You will need to find out,

 

Is there a Crime Reference number? If not, then it has not been recorded as a Crime.

 

Has the case been referred to CPS? Police cannot charge anymore apart from minor offenses, Firearms offenses are not minor.

 

If you get the same response from the officer, not willing to share the information with you, then you can ask to speak to the Duty Inspector to discuss it instead.

 

If that helps

[Grim Reaper 1]

Well said SS - succinctly put, thanks for your insight there - I for one certainly wasn't too aware of some of those points. !

 

You have included too something along the lines of what i was going to try and illuminate - the ratcatcher being classed as an air rifle, not pistol.

 

 

 

Regards,

Grim.

[perfect 1]

Worksop not far from me, i will be very interested how this all goes.

 

GOOD LUCK.

[ghillies 209]

as far as i've got it it, if theres a fixed arm rest/butt its a rifle...

 

the AA 410 thingy that the but comes off to fit n the case got about it by making the unbutted section switxh to sub 6 fp's, then when the butts atached it was a ligal limit air rifle.

 

i'd join countryside and alience or some one and ask their legal services.............................................. weird.

[RaiderBoy 19]

something should be done about the police, they should all be taught the correct laws about airguns because this is the second post ive read tonite about the police not having a clue about what there doing.

 

Raiderboy

[spike25blue 55]

hi flinty i just have a couple of questions

 

where was you when the rifle was taken from you ?

 

was the gun in a bag if you was in a public area ?

 

what was you doing with the rifle ?

 

and how old are you ?

 

if you can answer these then we may be able to help a little more

 

 

atb rob

[flinty 19]

im 21 and the gun was in the house just in the corner of cubord like it always was when i dint use it not in the bag they raided my house on suspision of fire arms and it was not armed response who raided but normal comunity officers with standerd uniforms i had only set the scopes up in back garden so some nosey neighbour must have reported me they took it away to be tested in feb only just heard back as i left my number loads of times i tryed to chase the gun up and there was no record of it anyware only the pc has said anything about it and a friend of my dads has rang the fao up and he said its a pistol as when you take the stock off its got the pistol grip on .atb flinty

[ghillies 209]

i thought the stock was affixed..not a slip on/off...hmm grey area by the looks of it. is it the one where the c02 cartridge is the butt, or the slip in the front... if the cartridge is the butt then you cant shoot it without.

Edited July 8, 2009 by ghillies

[flinty 19]

its screwd on to the gun and its the one were the bottles go in the front under the barrel

[ghillies 209]

 

hmmm so it's 'intracal'..as in part the pistol grip... may be worth ringing one of the airgun insurence people... the only way to make it a pistol is to saw the thing...

 

do a google on forums they all class it as 12fp's....

 

cant say as i'm not a legal beaver...so deffo ring a shooting based place to find out.

[Malt 379]

Quick question, has the barrel been shortened at any point?

[John-B 4]

I once got raided a few hours after zeroing my scope in my massive surrounded by trees garden, a few hours later I got a phone call saying it was the police and can I come to the front door with my hands in the air, I went to the door as i thought it was a joke but when I opened the door all the street was closed off and i had loads of guns pointing at me, some stupid neighbour had phoned them saying i was going mad in the garden with a shotgun, the police come in checked my guns, I had a rapid 7, 2x BSA supersports and a webley falcon at the time, they checked them all and said they were fine and I didn't have any shotguns at the time, wasn't a pleasant experience and I never spoke to the neighbour again, the firearms officer that checked the guns just looked at them, cocked the barrels on the supersports and the falcon and was impressed with the rapid 7 setup, no chrono or anything, they then went next door and spoke to the neighbour probably for wasting time...

[jenksi87 3]

if the stock is fixed mate then it has never been a pistol ! this is what has been said on another post. sometimes the cops know nothing and dont really hassle you. other times they still know nothing but still try and go to town with it. If the FAO doesnt know the difference between a pistol and a rifle then he is in the wrong job. fight it all the way mate. get a solicitor involved and proceed for compensation

[flinty 19]

thats the one in the pic no the barrel has not bin made any shorter if anything made longer by putting the adaptor on for the silencer