UK. 2005 ‘Secure Storage.’ Firearms Security: A Brief Guide. London: Home Office. 11 May

Relevant contents

What Does the Law Require?

Under the Firearms Rules 1998, a prescribed safekeeping condition is attached to all firearm and shotgun certificates. It is an offence not to comply with these conditions. The maximum penalty for this offence can be up to 6 months in prison, or a fine, or both…

What Is 'Secure Storage'?

The Firearms Rules do not prescribe how firearms must be kept securely, but the Home Office has issued guidance. Briefly this recommends that you store them in a locked gun cabinet or other similarly secure container. In some cases if you don't have a gun cabinet, it may be acceptable to remove the firing mechanism from a firearm and store it in a secure container, for example, a safe. In these cases you should then lock away the rest of the firearm. A securely built gunroom or cellar with a steel door that locks can also be an acceptable form of storage. Section 1 ammunition can be stored in a separate secure compartment within a gun cabinet or in its own secure container. When considering whether storage arrangements are secure enough, the police will look at the circumstances of each case and at the overall security arrangements, including the security of the premises where the firearms and ammunition are kept.

It may be helpful to think of security in terms of levels that may be applied in any given case. To this end 3 levels of security are generally accepted.

Level 1

This will be applicable in most cases and can be met by using a suitable gun cabinet. Where one firearm only is held, a gun clamp may suffice. Other considerations would be a low crime rate area and whether the property has outer doors and windows fitted with suitable locking devices.

Level 2

This will be applicable where extra security is desirable. This may be because of a high crime rate location, repeat victimisation or that a substantial number of firearms are being held. Additional security would be exit doors fitted with locks to BS3621, an audible intruder alarm covering the area where the guns are stored and possibly splitting the risk by the provision of more than one cabinet.

Level 3

Where the risk is deemed the greatest, then splitting the risk is desirable especially where large numbers of guns are involved. Additional target hardening of the storage cabinet(s) and an audible intruder alarm protecting the whole of the premises may also be considered…

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