The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

beesleya09 wrote:This may seem a silly question but if I applied and recieved my FAC whilst 17, would, upon my 18th birthday, I be able to purchase firearms and ammunition so long as I provided proof of age, or would I have to apply for a new certificate/speak to my local FEO in order to change the certificate to allow me so?

In short no, my personal experience with Avon & Somerset on this matter is until you are 18 (when I did it the age limit to purchase was 17, so I was 16 when I got my FAC) you will have a condition on your certificate stating no firearms can be purchased until x date (your 18th birthday). As my Dad had also just got his FAC I was provided with a condition that allowed him to gift me firearms from his certificate. Once I turned 18 I didn't need to send in my FAC until I wanted a variation as the conditioned mentioned above became void.

JS569 wrote:Any decent dealer worth his/her salt will take a deposit on a rifle on the understanding your FAC is granted and you'll pick it up when it arrives (assuming you find a rifle you want to buy before the FAC comes).

Be careful here, I have been told that it is illegal to place a deposit on a firearm if you do not have an FAC or permission to acquire. The deposit is a legal claim to ownership (or something like that).

However, you could offer the dealer a refundable fee not to sell it, that might work, and isn't a deposit on the firearm.