Note: This advice is given by the CAP Executive about non-broadcast advertising. It does not constitute legal advice. It does not bind CAP, CAP advisory panels or the Advertising Standards Authority.
The sale and the advertising of certain firearms are prohibited under the Firearms Act 1968 and as amended by the Firearms Amendment Act 1988. Those firearms include high-powered, self-loading or pump-action rifles, burst-fire weapons and repeating short-barrelled smooth bore guns. Advertisers and media owners who are in any doubt about the acceptability of an advertisement for a firearm should, in the first instance, contact their local police station.
Advertisers who want to advertise firearms that are not prohibited for sale should ensure that they are a registered firearms dealer and that anyone who wants to buy a firearm holds a relevant certificate. CAP urges media owners to ask marketers for written evidence that they are registered firearms dealers and consider very carefully the desirability of allowing ads for firearms for sale by post because it is difficult to see how mail order ads would be acceptable for firearms.
Back in 2000, the ASA upheld a complaint about an air rifle being distributed by mail order, because it believed the weapon was considered a lethal weapon and should not be available to persons under 18 (Fat Boy Corporation Ltd, April 2000).
Last modified : 01 July 2010