Question about the law / general license

[Neil.R]

Morning folks.

Was reading the natural England ‘General License’ this morning in a bid to improve my knowledge and I seem to have confused myself. Easily done.

Basically in the bit where it talks about shooting pest species it says ‘any semi automatic weapon’

So that would mean using a springer is out?

Link here - https://assets.publishing.service.go...hs-licence.PDF

[Rog5]

Spring guns are not semi automatic, so you can use them for pest control, subject to permission of course

[Neil.R]

Oh ok- from reading the license it seemed to be saying that you *must* use a semi automatic. So an air rifle would be covered by the ‘any other legal means’ bit?

[angrybear]

No, you need to read the whole paragraph

"and any of the following methods prohibited under section 5 of the 1981 Act: (a) Semi automatic weapon"

So while section 5 of the act prohibits a semi auto, (see c below) if you are acting under i of the general licence that prohibition is removed.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/69/section/5

[Rog5]

Oh ok- from reading the license it seemed to be saying that you *must* use a semi automatic. So an air rifle would be covered by the ‘any other legal means’ bit?

Wait until you start reading Pest control act 1954 and the Ground Game Act 1880 if you really want to know stuff, get this book, Fair Game the law of country sports and the protection of wildlife, a good bedtime read

[Barry]

Bear in mind this bit.

“This licence may only be relied upon where the activities are carried out for the purpose of preserving public health or public safety“.

The anti gun/hunting activists know about this and it can be a fast route to losing your air rifle. There are other General Licences with different conditions that you might be able to use if this one can’t be made to ‘fit’.

I use the one subject of this thread for the likes of roosting Feral Pigeon where the guano is presenting a health risk, and for LBB Gull egg removal/nest destruction where territorial birds are attacking work forces.

I couldn’t use it (legally) for say, shooting nesting corvids or nest lifting in a wooded area, or knocking off Feral Pigeon in my garden, if the Public Health/Safety concern wasn’t present.

ATB

[Solvo]

It's just a clause to allow those holding Section 1 shotguns to use them for pest control.
Section 1 firearms are on license for specific usage. for example you can't buy a .308 and just decide to go hunting with it.
Likewise if you obtain a Section 1 shotgun it needs to be for a specific purpose (i.e tactical shotgun competition) and provision for its use on a license such as that one just says you can apply for a Section 1 shotgun with the specific purpose being pest control.

Without the clause it would mean you can shoot a pigeon with a 12G shotgun, but get locked up if you shot it with a 12G semi-auto shotgun. Our firearms laws are diabolical, and to make proper sense of that license you need to reference a whole lot of legal jargon...
the firearms act (weapon permits & permitted uses)
Animal Welfare Act 2006 (trapping definitions)
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (everything surrounding this permit, as it is written as an exclusion to the 1981 act)
Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (not excluded by this license and so still applies)

Better resource is https://basc.org.uk/shooting/general-licences/
It covers what you need to know and links to the public friendly working of the actual legal license.

[danco1987]

Bear in mind this bit.

“This licence may only be relied upon where the activities are carried out for the purpose of preserving public health or public safety“.

The anti gun/hunting activists know about this and it can be a fast route to losing your air rifle. There are other General Licences with different conditions that you might be able to use if this one can’t be made to ‘fit’.

I use the one subject of this thread for the likes of roosting Feral Pigeon where the guano is presenting a health risk, and for LBB Gull egg removal/nest destruction where territorial birds are attacking work forces.

I couldn’t use it (legally) for say, shooting nesting corvids or nest lifting in a wooded area, or knocking off Feral Pigeon in my garden, if the Public Health/Safety concern wasn’t present.

ATB

I imagine the most applicable one for permission holders on this forum who shoot bird pests such as wood pigeons would be the one relating to:
Licence to kill or take certain wild birds to prevent serious damage or disease (GL04)

Preventing damage to arable crops on behalf of a landowner. Also could be used in a back garden if crops are being damaged i.e veg patch and the user is satisfied non lethal methods are not effective.

There's also a licence for the protection of other wildlife and birds which the killing of corvids would be covered by

[Barry]

I would think most would opt for GL04 too.

My contribution related to the OP’s link to GL05, along with his self confessed confusion.

That’s why I stated there were ‘others’ that might suit the user. As you know, it’s important to use the right one

[Neil.R]

Ok. Seems like I need to sit down and do a lot of reading/learning. Thanks for the advice, guys.

[Magyarman]

It's very confusing but when they're referring to semi automatic in the open general licences they actually mean section 1 shotguns i.e. ones that are capable of more than 3 shots