Firearms Act 2023?

[fundes]

Hi, has anyone discussed this somewhere? Namely the Clause "Possessing component parts of ammunition with intent to manufacture."
Is this going to force people to dispose of these items: (a)bullet; (b)cartridge case; (c)primer; (d)propellant or somehow get a FAC for possession as this looks like it's going to be an offense? Cheers, Dave

 

[TimG]

The key word in Sec. 2 is 'intent' which has to be proven and should be no concern whatsoever for normal law abiding persons. In light of other legislation passed in recent times with easy to prove offences, it could have been a lot worse - 'possession without lawful authority or reasonable excuse' and the ultimate - 'possessing.'

One questions the need for this legislation as the possession of primers and propellant are already covered by legislation and the most notable recent case of illegal manufacture was Paul Edmunds https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41984857 and he was a Registered Firearms Dealer.

TimG

 

[fundes]

Thanks for your reply. Personally, the confusion arose with the removal of the 'and' between the 1a 'Posession' of *any* component and 1b 'Intent to manufacture' clauses, from the 2018 proposed changes. It reads as either case is an offence, eg having empty cases or bullets, I know the main clause title is 'intent to manufacture', it just doesn't read right with the current wording. I was wondering whether the Raymond Nugent case had any bearing on this.