FIREARMS AND THE LAW JULY 2015 Rudi Fortson Q.C. 25 Bedford Row, London. WC1R 4HD Visiting Professor of Law, Queen Mary University of London This paper has been commissioned by the Law Commission for England and Wales. The paper is confined to those topics addressed by the Commission in its Scoping Paper. The analysis contained herein is that of the author and not of the Commission. 1 CONTENTS THE CASE FOR REFORM................................................................................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER 1: DEFINING A “FIREARM” ............................................................................................................................................. 9 I. BACKGROUND.......................................................................................................................................................................... 9 “FIREARM”: A MISNOMER?.......................................................................................................................................................... 9 LEGISLATION............................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Gun Licence Act 1870..................................................................................................................................................................................11 Pistols Act 1903...........................................................................................................................................................................................11 Firearms Act 1920.......................................................................................................................................................................................13 The Firearms and Imitation Firearms (Criminal Use) Act 1933 ...................................................................................................................14 The Firearms Act 1934 ................................................................................................................................................................................15 The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1936.........................................................................................................................................................15 The Firearms Act 1937 ................................................................................................................................................................................18 The Firearms Act 1965 ................................................................................................................................................................................18 The Firearms Act 1968 ................................................................................................................................................................................19 Air weapons...........................................................................................................................................................................................19 Prohibited weapons...............................................................................................................................................................................19 Firearms (Amendment) Act 1982................................................................................................................................................................20 The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988.........................................................................................................................................................21 Firearms (Amendment) Act 1992................................................................................................................................................................21 Firearms (Amendment) Act 1994................................................................................................................................................................21 The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997.........................................................................................................................................................21 The Firearms (Amendment) No.2 Act 1997 ................................................................................................................................................22 The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003............................................................................................................................................................22 Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006..............................................................................................................................................................23 Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 ....................................................................................................................................23 II. BARREL THAT CAN DISCHARGE A MISSILE ............................................................................................................................ 23 “BARREL”.................................................................................................................................................................................... 23 “DISCHARGE”.............................................................................................................................................................................. 23 Discharge ineffective: defective barrels......................................................................................................................................................24 DEVICES NOT ‘LETHAL BARRELLED’ WITHOUT MODIFICATION ................................................................................................. 25 (1) From an imitation - to a firearm ........................................................................................................................................... 25 Cafferata v Wilson .................................................................................................................................................................................26 R v Freeman...........................................................................................................................................................................................27 Muir v Cassidy........................................................................................................................................................................................28 Kelly v MacKinnon .................................................................................................................................................................................28 The Firearms Act 1982 – readily convertible imitations .............................................................................................................................29 Overview................................................................................................................................................................................................29 Interpretation issues in respect of the 1982 Act ...................................................................................................................................30 When is an imitation firearm “readily convertible”?.............................................................................................................................32 How the 1982 Act came to end the Cafferata and Freeman approach ......................................................................................................33 R v Bewley..............................................................................................................................................................................................33 Bewley, the 1982 Act, and imitation prohibited weapons ....................................................................................................................34 Is an imitation that is not readily convertible, a “component part” of a firearm? ................................................................................35 The chequered history of convertible imitations........................................................................................................................................35 The Bewley ‘sting in the tail’..................................................................................................................................................................36 Divergence between the law of England and Scotland...............................................................................................................................36 (2) Whether a “firearm” can be made to work as a firearm ...................................................................................................... 37 Items that do not function: “designed or adapted” to function in a certain way.......................................................................................37 (a) R. v. Jobling......................................................................................................................................................................................37