Section 4 Firearms Act 1968
Date Updated: January 2012
Title: Firearms
Legislation: Section 4 Firearms Act 1968
Mode of Trial: TEW
Statutory Limitations & Maximum Penalty: 7 Years. Subsection (4) increases the penalty for an offence under section 1 of the Act from 5 years to 7 years when it relates to the possession of a shortened shotgun or converted firearm.
Aggravating and Mitigating Factors
R v Avis [1998] 1 Cr.App.R. 420, CA.
The sentencing court should usually ask itself four questions:
- What sort of weapon was involved? Genuine firearms were more dangerous than imitation firearms; loaded firearms were more dangerous than unloaded firearms. Unloaded firearms for which ammunition was available were more dangerous than firearms for which no ammunition was available. Possession of a firearm for which there was no lawful use (such as a sawn-off shotgun) would be viewed more seriously than possession of a firearm which was capable of lawful use.
- What use had been made of the firearm? It was necessary for the court to take account of all the circumstances surrounding the use of the firearm: the more prolonged and premeditated and violent the use, the more serious the offence was likely to be.
- With what intention (if any) did the defendant possess or use the firearm? The most serious offences under the Act required proof of a specific intent. The more serious the act intended, the more serious the offence.
- What was the defendant's record? The seriousness of any firearms offence was inevitably increased if the offender had an established record of committing firearms offences or crimes of violence.
In addition, where there are offences of s4 committed, the custodial term is likely to be of considerable length and where the four questions cited above yield answers adverse to the offender, terms at or approaching the maximum may, in the event of a trial, be appropriate
Relevant sentencing Guidelines (If any)
See Above
Relevant Sentencing Case Law
Hampson & Hampson [2005] 1 Cr.App.R. (S) 227
Both D's pleaded guilty to conspiring to convert an imitation firearm into a firearm. Searches of the homes of the appellants led to the discovery of a number of imitation firearms which had been converted to firearms. Examination established that the imitation firearms had been converted by sawing off the barrels and inserting steel tubes to create new barrels. The converted weapons were then able to fire live ammunition.
These converted guns and the associated equipment may well have been crude, the tools used may have been simple, but they were, nonetheless, potentially lethal.
Sentenced to six years' imprisonment and 5 and a half years' imprisonment respectively. Appeals dismissed
R. v Flitter [2010] 1 Cr.App.R.(S.) 85
The appellant pleaded guilty before a magistrates' court to possessing a shortened shotgun without a firearms certificate, contrary to the Firearms Act 1968 s s.1 (1A) and 4(4). He was committed to the Crown Court for sentence. Police officers executing a search warrant at the appellant's home found a gun split into three pieces, each wrapped in a towel, in a carrier bag concealed within a boarded-up fireplace, which was in turn hidden behind a wardrobe. In an outbuilding, officers found a box of shotgun ammunition although this could not have been used in the shotgun concerned. The shotgun was found to be in poor condition but in working order. The appellant pleaded guilty on the basis that he had purchased the shotgun lawfully in the 1980s when he had a firearms certificate. Following a conviction for possession of cannabis, the firearms certificate was revoked. The appellant surrendered one shotgun to the police but did not surrender the second gun because he forgotten about its existence. When he later came across the gun, he had not handed it in to the police as he was afraid he might be arrested. He cut the shotgun into pieces with a hacksaw to make it inoperable rather than to make it more dangerous. 24 months imprisonment upheld.
Ancillary Orders:
- Forfeiture orders
- Destruction orders
