Basics of UK legal gun ownership
TLDR -
Join Home Office approved club, get licence, buy guns, get UKPSA safety certificate, attend any match you want.
Long version
Licencing
In the UK, civilian ownership of a firearm is a privilage, not a right. General rule of thumb is: if you want a Shotgun licence the police have to justify not giving you one. If you want a firearms licence (bullets) you have to justify why you need one. There are 4 basic category of licence that allow a civilian to own firearms.
Section 7 - Special Interest. Granted by local Police Force on a gun by gun basis. Requires an approved “good reason” package. Classic, obsolete firearms, special interest firearms, museum pieces etc. Some guns stored at & not allowed to be taken from secure range
Section 5 - Prohibited firearms - Granted by Home Office. Only input local Police have is to dictate required security. Covers semi auto centrefire rifles & almost all handguns.
Section 2 - Shotguns. Granted by Police. Basic farmer/clay pigeon guns. Over/unders, side by sides, pump/semi auto limited to 2+1 capacity.
Section 1 - Firearms. Granted by police. Need to request “slots” which get allocated . Shotguns with a capacity of more than 3+1 (no max), muzzle loading pistols/rifles, manual action rifles (bolt/lever/straight pull of any calibre inc 50cal), semiauto rimfire rifles, long barrelled pistols
The 2 main licences most people have are Section 2 & Secction 1 so we’ll concentrate on those. To start with, the shooter needs to be legally allowed to own a gun. Pretty much anyone would be ok providing they haven’t done 3+ years in prison. There’s also some health concerns that could prevent ownership. Psychological disorders, attempted suicide or long term depression thats managed by drugs are good examples
For all firearm licences, the shooter needs “Good Reason” to have a gun. There are basically 2 reasons. Pest control/hunting or sporting purposes. You can have both on a single licence & all licences need to be renewed every 5 years.
The pest/hunting reason is fairly easy to achieve. Find a friend with land, persuade them to give you shooting rights & apply for a licence to take your chosen quarry. It’s worth noting that the Police have guidlines to what calibers they’ll agree. They’re not going to give you permission to own a 308 for bunny bashing.
While the process is fairly simple, it’s not the good reason most of the people who compete have so we’ll concentrate on the sporting apect of it all
Section 2 is pretty easy to get although they’re not going to issue a licence to someone who has never shot. You’d need to have a basic understanding of local clay shoots, equipment & your intended attendance. They’re not going to give you a 5 year licence if you know you’ll only be able to shoot once or twice in that time.
Once you have your basic info, you’ll need a character reference & a few other bits & bobs. The other main thing is to do with gun security but we’ll cover that later in the application process.
Section 1 is harder to achieve. From a sporting perspective, you cannot apply for a licence unless you are a full (not probationary) member of a registered Home Office Approved Club. There are plenty of clubs around & they all have their own way of dealing with Probationary periods.
Once you are a full member of an approved club, you can apply for a licence. In addition to being a full member of a club you’ll need 2 character references, a doctors note & the usual info (name, address, DOB etc). You’ll get an in person interview as part of the intial application & they may ask to talk to anyone else in the house about the situation.
Getting & owning guns
Next step after jumping through the club hoops is security of the property & the guns within it. Short story? Guns need to be in a safe, solid ammo (bullets, shotgun slug) & bolts of guns in a different safe or safes (where practicable). Safes need to be securely installed, usually to the fabric of the house. In the loft is common place. Secured in an unattached garage is unlikely to be approved. House alarms are required if you own more than a certain number of firearms.
It’s all pretty easy but not much point doing it straight away as the licence applications can take a really long time.
Notes -
Joining a club can be a pain but getting a licence is pretty much a tick box exercise. The biggest issue will be time. In theory you could attend any match as a probationer as long as you were under the supervision of a full member & using club equipment.
UKPSA matches are only available to those who’ve completed the relevant short gun/long gun safety course
The closest UK shooters can get to shooting a Glock is either doing Action Air (airsoft), buying a Long Barrelled Pistol (LBP) or travelling to Northern Ireland.
There are basically 4 disciplines of practical (dynamic) shooting in the UK - LBPs, minirifle (semi auto 22lr), Airsoft & Shotgun. Shotgun has more matches than the rest of the disciplines.
Unfotuntely, travel to matches is a requirement & the matches are all over the country.