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Firearms: Licensing

Answer

Section 26(2) does not create an offence relating to the purchase or acquisition of firearms using a false certificate. The offence most closely associated with such conduct is section 3(5) of the Firearms Act (FA) 1968, where it is an offence to produce a false certificate with the view of purchasing or acquiring any firearm or ammunition. Depending on the facts of the case, however, the CPS may charge these cases as a possession offence under section 1 or section 5 FA 1968. There may also be other offences considered depending on what the individual who purchases the firearms does with it.

The CPS holds management information which shows the number of offences charged by way of Section 3(5), Section 1 and Section 5 FA 1968 in which a prosecution commenced. The table below shows the number of offences charged by Act and Section in which a prosecution commenced between 2006 and 2025. The CPS is unable to differentiate whether the offences charged under section 1 or section 5 FA 1968 involved the individual using a false certificate; therefore, the information in the table below is for all offences charged under those sections of the FA 1968.

	Section 1 FA 1968	Section 5 FA 1968	Section 5(1A) FA 1968	Section 5(2A) FA 1968	Criminal Attempts Act 1981 and section 5 FA 1968	Section 3(5) FA1968
2006	967	2,100	90	0	0	0
2007	1,054	2,698	102	0	0	0
2008	1,107	2,775	115	0	0	0
2009	1,091	2,747	146	0	0	0
2010	942	2,543	137	0	0	0
2011	987	2,638	169	0	3	0
2012	891	2,219	134	0	0	0
2013	739	1,912	168	0	0	0
2014	660	1,874	227	0	3	0
2015	718	1,927	265	3	0	0
2016	647	1,959	420	25	1	0
2017	781	1,792	364	55	1	0
2018	788	1,733	326	61	0	0
2019	627	1,878	287	44	0	0
2020	451	1,613	118	51	0	0
2021	702	2,188	108	63	0	4
2022	687	1,695	54	90	2	1
2023	766	1,612	41	57	1	0
2024	890	1,712	57	80	0	1
2025	813	1,551	45	66	0	0
TOTAL	16,308	41,166	3,373	595	9	6

The figures relate to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants prosecuted. It can be the case that an individual defendant is charged with more than one offence against the same complainant. No data is held showing the final outcome or if the charged offence was the substantive charge at finalisation.

The CPS does not hold management information on convictions by Act and Section and is therefore unable to provide the requested conviction figures.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

17756

Session

2026-27

Subjects

Ammunition Convictions Licensing Firearms Prosecutions

Legislation

Firearms Act 1968

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk