Taking airguns to France by car

[linegeist]

Either:
(1) Get a European permit from your cop-shop (free
or
(2) Strip the rifles and send the unrecogniseable/important bits on ahead. Ship the rest as 'parts'. Most Cops won't be interested in 'spares, which is what they'll be. Then reassemble on arrival. (This latter solution from Didier the Gendarme Sarjeant who's sitting beside me right now drinking my Whisky - phwoar wot a hunk!!!!! (says the wife) <img src="http://jsramsbottom.co.uk/bbs/e/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="Big Grin" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin:--> <img src="http://jsramsbottom.co.uk/bbs/e/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="Big Grin" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin:-->)

regards
BC

[NickNick]

If travelling through the channel tunnel declare your air weapons at check-in. They will put a sticker on your windscreen and you will be selected for a security check by Eurotunnel staff. They will ask to see a gun license so explain it is an air weapon and does not require one. If they doubt what you are saying they will call the Channel Tunnel Policing Unit (Kent Police)who will attend and varify your claim. If you choose not to declare your gun at check-in, you run the gauntlet of maybe being stopped for a security check, and if the gun is found you will be asked why you did not declare, and even though your possession is legal you will probably be banned from taking the gun through the tunnel as you are a security risk. <img src="http://jsramsbottom.co.uk/bbs/e/icon_eek.gif" alt="Eek" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin:-->

Don't worry about the French police. They don't give a damn! <img src="http://jsramsbottom.co.uk/bbs/e/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="Big Grin" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin:-->

[marcusj]

Excellent advice from all. I certainly want to stay legal and don't want to wind up the boys in blue and customs.

Is it the FLO at the local cop shop that can hand out European gun permits for sub 12fpe rifles?

[Road Runner]

I have taken guns via France, Belgium & Netherlands to Germany over the last four years. There are now no borders within Europe so crossing them is no hassle.

I declared them once, going out, via the tunnel. We were given priority loading but they did nothing else.

Twice at Calais now they have searched the car before boarding the ferry, as described above. This is for illegal immigrants. There were two gun cases in the boot, in full view, which were just glanced at.

I have been stopped twice by Customs at Dover ferry port coming back into the UK. They tend to be quite hot.

The important thing is to have a piece of paper stating that the gun is under 12 ft. lb. and does not require a FAC. If you cannot prove the gun is legal then they can confiscate it. It is best that this comes from the manufacturer. I also carry a recent club test certificate.

Each time I have been pulled over at Dover, they take the letters away for about half an hour and comeback saying you can go. They have never looked at the guns - they were never taken out of the car or the cases!

Keith

[marcusj]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ricochet:
Is it the FLO at the local cop shop that can hand out European gun permits for sub 12fpe rifles?[/quote]
Just had a chat to West Midlands Police Firearms Licensing Dept and they say they will only issue European Firearms Certificates for guns that are currently on ticket here in the UK (section 1 & 5). <img src="http://jsramsbottom.co.uk/bbs/e/icon_confused.gif" alt="Confused" width="15" height="22"><!--graemlin:--> They say that I should chat to DTI (no phone number could be provided) about export to another European country and to get a test certificate from an RFD to say that they are sub 12 fpe.

[woody2906]

RARMS you were not stopped by Customs but by the AMSA security staff at Dover. The Aviation Maritme Security Act (AMSA) obliges the Airport Authority or Sea Port Authority in the case of Ferries to search a certain percentage of passengers and their cars before boarding a ferry/plane.

To take any weapon onboard you must get the permission of the ferry operator and then produce this as verification to the AMSA security staff before boarding.
This was done to protect our vessels against terrorism and the French are supposed to reciprocate but ofcourse they don't.

Hope this is of some use to you.
I know because i used to be responsible for this when i worked at Dover Docks.

[marcusj]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by woody2906:
Hope this is of some use to you.
I know because i used to be responsible for this when i worked at Dover Docks.[/quote]
Aha. So, from your experience, are most ferry companies happy to carry sub 12 fpe air rifles as long as the correct procedures are followed?

[woody2906]

I would say "Sea France" being French have a more relaxed attitude to it.

I can't recall a case exactly like this, usually its shooting teams going to a competition. Or, more commonly shotguns accompanied with permits and an invitation to shoot a foreign club.

The important thing is to arrange it with the Shipping operator before hand.

If you don't and you're caught then the gun would be confiscated.

[Road Runner]

I forgot to say that besides a letter from the manufacturer I have always carried the invitation to shoot in German competitions. I don't know if it really helps but it gives you a valid reason for takling an air rifle in the first place. The manufacturers' letters state that the gun is/was effectively legal when supplied, and the club test certificate shows it was sub 12 ft.lb. when recently tested. I always give a 10-shot string of velocities, pellet weights and muzzle energies. I always test with heavy and light pellets. Hopefully, it helps! It has done so far. I have not always advised the ferry company but will do from now on. Keith

[rarms]

Whilst here, whats the score on bringing back shotgun cartridges?
I have a SGC so was wondering on any legal complications?

cheers

Kyle

[Davidt]

True story: When I was moving to France on a permanent basis early this year, the security at Folkestone gave me a really hard time, one of their guys saying that with a van packed with furniture, 'did I really think I'd get out without it being all unloaded for inspection?' This because the van, a 3.5 tonner was packed tight.It would have taken hours to take it all out and replace.
So they sent me to the X ray hanger where I had to go through all the rigmarole.
I missed two trains in fact. I asked the man there how many terrorists,drug dealers or asylum seekers they caught trying to get OUT of the UK. He was not amused but I was making a serious point.
After all this, when I arrive at my home, while unpacking the van, I find, in a drawer in a cabinet my HW45 pistol.
I can only assume that the X ray equipment is so sensitive and detailed that it told them that it was a legal air pistol rather than a Colt automatic.