What year was the 12Ft/lb law in UK passed?

[amer4545]

Dear Members,
Can someone tell me what year the UK passed a law limiting the power on Air guns under 12ft/lb.
I bought air gun that cam thru UK in 2001, and in the absence of a Chronograph to test the velocity, i am unable to check the muzzle energy. Need to determine if the gun is under or over the 12 ft per lb.

The technical specs of the gun read over way over 12 ft / lb....that doesnt mean anything if this gun came from UK and the law was already enacted already.

Thanks
AA

[farhan.lateefi]

Hi Bro,
I came across this info, check out this link http://www.airpistol.co.uk/airgun_law.htm

"Airguns in the UK are subject to the firearms acts, under the Firearms (Dangerous air weapons) rules 1969 they are classified as low powered Air Weapons and as such they are restricted to a maximum power of 12 foot pounds force for a rifle and 6 foot pounds force for a pistol. Above 12ftlb a rifle is classified as a Section 1 Firearm and requires a licence called a firearms certificate, and a pistol above 6ftlb is again a Section 1 Firearm requiring a firearms certificate in the UK."

regards
farhan lateefi

[amer4545]

Thanks Farhaan. The question now is, if a gun is slated to be imported from UK, Europe to other non-EU countries like Asia, Middle East, is it safe to assume that they would be retuned to regular power.

A pellet 14.5 shooting 610 FPS will generate around 12 Ft/ LB Formula = ( Wt x V x V)/ 450240 = value in Ft/lb

[brihacharan]

Regulation of firearms in modern times in Great Britain began with the Gun Licence Act of 1870, which was essentially a simple excise tax. This law required a person who wished to carry a firearm "outside the curtilage of his dwelling house" to purchase a licence from the Post Office. Licenses were valid for one year.

However this law has undergone several modifications since then. It appears that it was somewhere in the forties that the limit of 12ft.lbs was brought into force to permit gun users to own arms without a license and if the user is between 14 & under 18 years of age its use has to be under the supervision of an older person, preferably a license holder. The use of the gun was restricted to plinking / pest control. Unfortunately in India the hangover from the British laws still prevail.

Brihacharan