legal limit?

[spiderman]

Can anyone tell me how they came up with the figure of 12ft/lb for the limit for air rifles not requiring FAC.
Whats the difference between 11.9 and 12.1? 1n terms of power?

[DeadEye Tom]

In terms of hitting power sweet F.A..
In the eyes of the law one is legal one ain't
They had to draw the line somewhere..

[manxteddy]

Originally there was a gentleman'as agreement about power limitation between the government and manufacturers (BSA etc)based upon a certain weight of .22 pellet and 600 fps rounded up to 12ftb.
It was then made law and frankly I am happy with that and that we do not as yet need a permit.
The difference in power is just a few feet per second.
I guess there has to be a cut off point.
Frankly I think there are more important national issues than 12ftb.
If you think you might need more power then simply get an FAC.
Graham

[PAUL600RR]

0.2 of a ft lb

[Taff Williams]

In the wrong place and at the wrong time the difference could be 5 years

Ogri the trog

[jackg]

Firearms (Dangerous Air Weapons) Rules 1969.
UK gun mfrs lobbied Government to introduce this law to prevent US mfrs selling higher powered guns over here.
That's business.

The Case against Gun control

[I. J.]

Firearms (Dangerous Air Weapons) Rules 1969.
UK gun mfrs lobbied Government to introduce this law to prevent US mfrs selling higher powered guns over here.
That's business.

The Case against Gun control

I'd also heard that. The British manufacturers (BSA, Webley, Diana etc) couldn't keep up with the likes of the American pump ups (Sheridan, Benjamin etc.) in the power stakes so requested a legal limit.

[boltaction]

Firearms (Dangerous Air Weapons) Rules 1969.
UK gun mfrs lobbied Government to introduce this law to prevent US mfrs selling higher powered guns over here.
That's business.

The Case against Gun control

Bang on........pardon the pun . I remember it well, nothing that B.S.A and Webely made were exceeding that limit at the time, but some imported guns were going well over it, some of them recoilless as well, so more accurate than the home produced guns.

Blatant piece of protectionism I am afraid


jim

[Rapidnick]

In the wrong place and at the wrong time the difference could be 5 years

Ogri the trog

This chestnut again!!! I have asked in several previous posts for any member to give me an example where ANYONE had been jailed for ANY LENGTH OF TIME let alone five years for JUST POSSESSING an air rifle of over 12 ft lb. The answer is NO ONE HAS!!! That does not mean to say that the 12 ft lb limit is to be flouted-just that we shouldn't be paranoid about it!
The answer to the original question is the same as for speed limits or any other kind of legal limit-drinking, smoking, driving etc: they are purely arbitrary.

[Brian.Samson]

This chestnut again!!! I have asked in several previous posts for any member to give me an example where ANYONE had been jailed for ANY LENGTH OF TIME let alone five years for JUST POSSESSING an air rifle of over 12 ft lb. The answer is NO ONE HAS!!! That does not mean to say that the 12 ft lb limit is to be flouted-just that we shouldn't be paranoid about it!
The answer to the original question is the same as for speed limits or any other kind of legal limit-drinking, smoking, driving etc: they are purely arbitrary.

Not sure how many active regular posters there are on this forum, probably not even 1,000 out of the 9,000 registered members at a guess. I'm also not sure how many people looked at your thread - less than 500 at another guess. Out of those just because no one (that was prepared to reply) knew of anyone that had been sent down for any length of time, isn't proof that not one of the 2,000,000 airgun owners in the country has fallen foul of the 12fpe limit with any one of the 6,000,000+ airguns in the country. Your answer of 'NO ONE HAS' makes some sweeping assumptions and may or may not be true.

What is true however is that there are sufficient laws in this country to deter airgun misuse without having to resort to bans or licensing, but they are sadly not common knowledge. Who in their right mind would go waving an airgun around if they knew they could face upto 14 years in prison.

You can call it paranoia if you like, I call it having a responsible attitude on a public forum and helping to make all those lurking guests aware of the seriousness of airgun misuse and the possible sentences they face.

All the best
Brian

[Terry D]

The answer is NO ONE HAS!!!

I assure you that the charge of an airgun-based 'unlawful possession of a firearm' has most certainly been the factor that has led to a custodial sentence, Nick. In fact, since the 'five years mandatory' law, at least three people to my knowledge are almost certain to do time over it.

Anyway, jail term or not, having a firearms offence on your CV is never going to be an advantage, is it?

Of course we don't need to be 'paranoid', but we do need to regard the legal limit as more than 'arbitrary'.

[Tonio]

Originally there was a gentleman'as agreement about power limitation between the government and manufacturers (BSA etc)based upon a certain weight of .22 pellet and 600 fps rounded up to 12ftb.

Anybody knows "legal" pellet weight in .177 cal ??? Which pellet should I use to measure 12ft.lb limit???

Thanx

Tonio

[dazzpol]

Anybody knows "legal" pellet weight in .177 cal ??? Which pellet should I use to measure 12ft.lb limit???

Thanx

Tonio

Hi Tonio,

There isn't a legal pellet weight. However in PCP rifles it's generally accepted that heavy pellets are the most efficient. I use Bisley Magnums 10.6 grns to measure the power of my PCPs.

Dazz

[zebedee71]

Can anyone tell me how they came up with the figure of 12ft/lb for the limit for air rifles not requiring FAC.
Whats the difference between 11.9 and 12.1? 1n terms of power?

That would be a difference of 0.2

Zeb

[manxteddy]

Having read through the above posts I then glanced at some Airgun mags from 1989/90 where the 12 ftb limit is mentioned several times and some folk are mentioned for having had their guns over the limit and had to answer for it.So the subject is one that reoccurs.
Is it an old chesnut ?
Graham