Deactivated Grenades and the Law

[perky416]

Hi Guys,

I have been searching for the law/legislation that governs deactivated grenades. Several websites I have seen selling them state they are deactivated in accordance with the law however I have been unable to find any clear guidance.

I have tried using the search however couldn't find anything.

Searching google I found a post here on bocn that references the Firearms Act. I had a quick refresher and the act throws grenades under the definition of ammunition.

If I remember correctly the only reference to deactivation in the firearms act relates to firearms.

Is anybody able to point me in the right direction?

Many Thanks

 

[smle2009]

Good question and one I've wondered about for a long time...what I can make of it there are no deactivation laws with offensive/defensive grenades in the UK (to render unusable for their intended purpose) but to be just inert and FFE.

Tony

 

[Millsman]

The question is what constitutes a grenade or a bomb?

When you consider that the IRA used to make bombs out of lunchboxes and biscuit tins are empty biscuit tins bombs?

A grenade can be a complex mechanism such as the internals of a No 3 or it can be a tin can like a No 27, 31, 32 etc.

An unloaded rifle is still a rifle, but an unloaded grenade is often just a container.

Hard to define.

In the ammunition world there are people licensed to collect live ammunition. Otherwise ammunition is made inert and collectable to the masses. There are no licenses for collectors of live grenades and people would be mad to do so.

John

 

[Bonnex]

I enquired about this when the Firearms Act changed about 15 years ago. The Thames Valley Police Firearms Department sought advice from the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham (who put them on to me which was amusing but had the benefit of creating a less formal dialog between us). TVP then sought the opinion of the Forensic Science Laboratory at Huntingdon who responded with "If it is empty it is just junk".

I dare say if the question was asked today the answer would lack the clarity of the 'just junk' opinion. The advent of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Land Mines Act and a host of other legislation gives rise to uncertainty without the guidance of case law.