Acquiring a suppressor in the UK requires a suitably licensed 'slot' on a Firearms Certificate (FAC). You can't just buy one on a whim; you need to satisfy the Police of having good reason to own one and they will provide space for one on your FAC.

Whilst I understand your thinking that firearms are almost completely banned in the UK, the situation is nowhere near as bad as that (although as an ex-pistol shooter - before these were banned - I can definitely say that the legal UK firearms owner has certainly been served several injustices due to the knee-jerk reactions of the legislature... anyway, no politics allowed here, so rant over!).

In the UK you can legally own and shoot the following firearms (note that all UK firearms are based on minimum legal spec of 12" barrel length; minimum overall length of 24"; there are some long barrelled pistols (LBRs) which have a 12" barrel and welded arm brace making up the min legal length)

.22LR rifles & LBPs: any mechanism up to semi-auto (e.g. 15-22) - no full autos though!

Any other (centrefire) calibre, pistol through to full-bore: single shot mechanisms only (bolt, straight-pull). There are many AR15s (and other 'military' rifles such as FALs, Steyr AUGs etc.) in civilian UK ownership, but all must have a single shot/straight-pull mechanism to be legal).

In addition, you can own a Long Barrelled Revolver (LBR) which conforms to the same min length requirements in full pistol calibres (.357/.44 etc.).

Muzzle-loading (black powder) pistols (inc. revolvers) are allowed as 'true' pistols (i.e. not having to conform to the min length requirements).

Over and above this, there are NO limits in the UK as regards magazine capacities, mag release buttons, foregrips, flash-hiders etc. so in that respect we actually have quite a bit more freedom than several US states! The amount of ammo that we can buy and hold is however regulated on our FACs (for example, I can only purchase 5K 22LRs at a time, with a maximum hold quantity of 5.5K).

For instance, I personally own the following:

.22 S&W 15-22 (with several 25rnd mags!)

.22LR CZ455 bolt action rifle

9mm AR-15 carbine (using Glock 17 mags and a specialised mechanism called a 'lever release' interrupted gas blowback system, whereby each round fired will eject the case, but remain held open until a small thumb lever (where the safety normally is on an AR) drops the bolt again)

Ruger 77mk2 .308 bolt action rifle

.357 Taurus Long Barrelled Revolver

and have permission (on my FAC) to purchase another .357 rifle, .223 rifle and .308 rifle in the future.

Many of our club members shoot Marlin underlevers in .357 or .44 for gallery rifle competitions too, as these are perfectly legal and quick enough for action style comps.

Not an exhaustive list (as there are also some pistols held on a Section 5 licence in the UK, including vintage collectible firearms), and perhaps the biggest ? Is the fact that while shooters in mainland Uk had to hand in their pistols back in 1996/7, shooters in Northern Ireland (also the UK) and the Isle of Man...?!?






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