Section 21 of the Firearms Act 1968
(1) A person who has been sentenced to preventative detention, or to imprisonment or to corrective training for a term of three years or more, or who has been sentenced to be detained for such a term in a young offenders institution in Scotland, shall not at any time have a firearm or ammunition in his possession.
(2) A person who has been sentenced to borstal training, to corrective training for less than three years or to imprisonment for a term of three months or more but less than three years, or who has been sentenced to be detained for such a term in a detention centre or in a young offenders institution in Scotland, shall not at any time before the expiration of the period of five years from the date of release have a firearm or ammunition in his possession.
(3) A person who— (a) is the holder of a licence issued under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 or section 57 of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 (which sections provide for the detention of children and young persons convicted of serious crime, but enable them to be discharged on licence by the Secretary of State) ; or (b) is subject to a recognisance to keep the peace or to be of good behaviour, a condition of which is that he shall not possess, use or carry a firearm, or is subject to a probation order containing a requirement that he shall not possess, use or carry a firearm ; or (c) has, in Scotland, been ordained to find caution a condition of which is that he shall not possess, use or carry a firearm ; shall not, at any time during which he holds the licence or is so subject or has been so ordained, have a firearm or ammunition in his possession.
(4) It is an offence for a person to contravene any of the foregoing provisions of this section.
(5) It is an offence for a person to sell or transfer a firearm or ammunition to, or to repair, test or prove a firearm or ammunition for, a person whom he knows or reasonable ground for believing to be prohibited by this section from having a firearm or ammunition in his possession.
(6) A person prohibited under subsection (1), (2) or (3) of this section from having in his possession a firearm or ammunition may apply to quarter sessions or, in Scotland, in accordance with Act of Sederunt to the sheriff for a removal of the prohibition ; and if the applicant is granted that prohibition shall not then apply to him.
(7) Schedule 3 to this Act shall have effect with respect to the courts with jurisdiction to entertain an application under this section and to the procedure appertaining thereto.
| Offence | Maximum penalty imprisonment |
Maximum penalty fine |
| Drunk in charge of a loaded firearm | One month | £200 |
| Murder | Life | |
| Wounding/Grievous bodily harm | Life | £ unlimited |
| Threats to kill | Ten years | £ unlimited |
| Offensive weapon in a public place | Four years | £ unlimited |
| Manslaughter | Life | £ unlimited |
| Actual bodily harm | Two years | £ unlimited |
| Common assault | Ten years | £ unlimited |
| Criminal damage | Ten years | £5,000 |
| Having anything in his custody or control intending to use it to cause criminal damage | Ten years | £5,000 |
| Possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life or injure property | Ten years | £ unlimited |
| Possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear or unlawful violence | Ten years | £ unlimited |
| Using firearms to resist arrest | Life | £ unlimited |
| Prohibited person possessing firearm or ammunition | Five years | £ unlimited |
| Possession of firearm with intent to commit an offence | Life | £ unlimited |
| Carrying loaded firearm in public place | Seven years | £ unlimited |
| Trespassing with firearm in building/on land | Seven years | £ unlimited |
| Person under seventeen acquiring firearm | Six months | £5,000 |
| Person under 14 possessing airgun or ammunition | £1,000 | |
| Person under 17 having air weapon in a public place | £1,000 | |
| Person under 14 making improper use of airgun when under supervision | £1,000 | |
| Adult supervisor of person under 14 making improper use of an airgun | £1,000 | |
| Selling a firearm (includes airgun) to a person under 17 | Six months | £5,000 |
| Supplying air weapon to person under 14 | £1,000 | |
| Failure to hand over firearm or ammunition to constable for examination | £1,000 | |
| Discharging a firearm within fifty feet of the centre of a highway causing injury, interruption or danger | £1,000 | |
| Discharging a firearm within fifty feet of the centre of a highway causing damage | £1,000 | |
| Wantonly discharging firearm in street | 14 days | £1,000 |
| At the time of arrest for scheduled offence has in his possession a firearm or imitation without lawful object | Life | £ unlimited |
| Ill-treat or cause unnecessary suffering to any animal | 6 months | £5,000 |
| Aggravated burglary | Life | |
| Kill, injure any wild animal under Schedule 5 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 | £1,000 | |
| Supply firearms to a person drunk or insane | 3 months | £1,000 |