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I've just received this from the above.

BASC has welcomed a government decision to launch a public consultation on a proposal to remove sound moderators from firearms licensing controls.

Launched today, the Home Office consultation seeks views on proposals to amend the definition of firearm in section 57(1)(d) of the Firearms Act 1968, removing the reference to sound moderators.

Currently, sound moderators must be covered by a firearms certificate. However, the wording of the consultation states that “sound moderators are not dangerous as firearms, and removing them from firearms licensing controls does not have any implications for public safety”.

To respond to the consultation, click here. There are four questions to answer, plus your personal details. The consultation closes on 2 April 2024.

You can also email the consultation directly with your comments here

 

Please add your comments. 

Edited by steve_b_wales
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1 hour ago, Scully said:

This. I can’t even imagine a meeting where someone thought this was a good idea, nor why! Totally bonkers! 

Don’t forget they were originally called “silencers”. 
I reckon some politicians somewhere found it sinister and threatening that people might have a deadly weapon that was totally silent, like in movies.

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8 minutes ago, HantsRob said:

I am NOT a rifle shooter.

Is there any reason you wouldn't use a moderator? 

I am wondering if there would be a need to change it to be a necessity as a condition of a licence holder, but but without licence control?

They can make a rifle over long and unwieldy and unbalanced.

The one on my .308 has been both the ruination of the rifle and the making of it at the same time. It’s ruined the balance and made it 4inches  longer and blocks light from the scope such that I lose 20 mins at dusk. Also made the rifle heavier to carry and will not sit muzzle up on a sling. BUT the extra weight helps with a steadier shot and helps reduce recoil, which the moderator has reduced by 60% anyway. Groups have improved dramatically.

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10 minutes ago, HantsRob said:

I am NOT a rifle shooter.

Is there any reason you wouldn't use a moderator? 

I am wondering if there would be a need to change it to be a necessity as a condition of a licence holder, but but without licence control?

Some antique and competition rifles and target shooting disciplines use iron sights only which aren't really useable with a huge can stuck on the front of the barrel. 

When passed, how long before every PCC in the land starts boasting about how they cut firearms numbers by a third (approx the amount of mods vs actual firearms) during their term?  

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1 hour ago, HantsRob said:

I am NOT a rifle shooter.

Is there any reason you wouldn't use a moderator? 

I am wondering if there would be a need to change it to be a necessity as a condition of a licence holder, but but without licence control?

There's plenty of reasons to use a mod and plenty of reasons not to, you definitely wouldn't want it to be mandatory.

Some rifles it would be hard to fit one and you would not wish to fit one on a historic rifle if you wish to keep it in an original state.

It can be expensive to screwcut and possibly reproof a rifle to accept a mod.

When putting several shots through a rifle in quick succession in a centrefire rifle the mod can quickly overheat causing heat haze to obscure the scope.

Mods can be expensive and may not last long when putting large numbers of shots through.

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37 minutes ago, manthing said:

When did they go on? Would they have been considered a poachers tool back in the day?

I may be wrong but I think moderators have always been on ticket since the Firearms Act of 1937 was brought in to control rifles. Worded as, “or any accessory designed or adapted to diminish any noise or flash from any such firearm”.
Or it may even have been brought in when pistols were controlled in 1920.

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The proposals being consulted on have been hard fought for, by BASC and British Shooting Sports Council,  over many years, to get to this stage, key being support from Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, BASC VP and chairman of the All-Party Group on Shooting and Conservation and Jonathan Djanogly MP, Chairman of BSSC, for the regular representations they’ve made to the Home Office and others in government.
 
The proposals have been considered in detail and are outlined here:
 
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My rifle club has a WhatsApp group where competition results and general messages are placed and the other day there was a link to  a  government notice about this.  The requirement to have silencers added to firearms certificates was a complete nonsense.  This should have been challenged at the time.  It is akin to having to have slings and butt plates on ticket. I  had an feo who had a thing about silencers and when I asked for silencers on my application he tried to decline and said you've got ONE so you can put it on your different guns..?  but I wrote to the department head and this nonsense was overruled.  I think that someone had been watching too many gangster movies. It's a complete shambles.  Ps. How was a silencers for a 22rf ever compatible for use on a 270.

Edited by Minky
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15 minutes ago, Minky said:

Ps. How was a silencers for a 22rf ever compatible for use on a 270

If you have a 30cal mod that is the same thread on both rifles then you have a mod that will work on both. So you can do it, legally maybe not currently but it is possible.

A-tec have a system A-Lock, that allows you to use one moderator on multiple rifles. It is an adapter that goes on your rifles that then has one thread that the mod goes onto.

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28 minutes ago, ShootingEgg said:

If you have a 30cal mod that is the same thread on both rifles then you have a mod that will work on both. So you can do it, legally maybe not currently but it is possible.

A-tec have a system A-Lock, that allows you to use one moderator on multiple rifles. It is an adapter that goes on your rifles that then has one thread that the mod goes onto.

That's crazy.  The barrel threads might be the same but the difference in volume is hell of a lot. that's the same sort of thing as saying you can swap wheels from your lorry onto your car. Ps. As above adding a silencer to a gun is more complicated than just screwing something on the barrel.   There's overall length of the gun, balance, added weight and the most important thing is how it affects the harmony of the barrel and how it changes the point of impact of the group.

Edited by Minky
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