Ehhhh it’s much more complicated than this. All of these can be owned with the correct licence and/or authority, but none of them can be owned without a licence of some sort. If anybody is actually interested I can write out the various levels of licensing in full, but if not I won’t haha.

In case it gets lost in the replies, my summary of the actual and complicated state of UK firearms licensing:

Alright, here goes, as comprehensive a list as I can come up with of all the things considered firearms in the UK! Most of this is governed by the Firearms Act 1968, as amended 1988 and 1996. UK law defines a firearm as a ‘lethal barrelled weapon capable of discharging a bullet, shot or missile,’ or the relevant component parts thereof. ‘Component parts’ used to mean anything pressure bearing, but nowadays also includes any ‘frame, body or receiver’. Regulated parts typically fit into the same category as the firearm that they’re a part of (e.g. a bolt for a shotgun is S.2, for a rifle is S.1, and one for an air rifle or antique is unlicensed).

Firearms which can be owned without any form of licence or authority:

• Air guns. This means anything that fires a metal shot using air pressure (spring, PCP, CO2, gas, etc) so long as it isn’t fully automatic, and has muzzle energy below either 6 ft-lbf for a pistol or 12 ft-lbf for a rifle. Above that energy limit, they do not qualify for the air gun exemption and require the same licence or authority as their powder counterparts. Air guns can be shot on any private land where you have permission to do so.

• S.58(i): Deactivated guns. These must be deactivated in accordance with specifications set out by the Home Office, and inspected by either the Birmingham or London Proof Houses. Because it’s a lot less faff than live, non-antique firearms, many collectors and reenactors collect deacts.

• S.58(ii): Antiques. To qualify as an antique, a firearm must meet three criteria: firstly, it is owned as an ‘antique or curio’ - generally taken to mean it’s held for collecting or display purposes only. Secondly, it was made before 1939. Thirdly, it uses an obsolete form of ammunition. This includes all muzzle loaders, anything that uses pinfire or needle fire cartridges, or breechloaders chambered for anything on a designated list of ‘obsolete calibres’. The list is updated from time to time, and the government are surprisingly receptive to adding new ones if it can be shown that they truly are obsolete (though there are no set criteria to determine obsolescence).*

Then there are the guns with relatively obtainable, and quite commonplace, licences.

S.2: Shotgun Certificate (SGC). To qualify as a legal shotgun, a gun must have a smoothbore barrel at least 24” in length, fire ammunition with at least three projectiles, and be capable of holding no more than two additional rounds (other than the one in the chamber). Any form of action except fully automatic is permitted (i.e. break action, under lever, pump action, self-loading, etc), and detachable magazines are not allowed. Where a gun has a tube magazine, it must be restricted to two standard-length cartridges (and so you could theoretically get more in by using mini shells or similar, but this would only be dubiously legal). To get an SGC, you must have secure storage, and submit your medical records and a character statement from someone** you have known non-professionally for at least three years to the police. They will then conduct a criminal record check, and come round to your house to confirm your storage setup and interview you. Theoretically, you don’t need a specific reason to want an SGC, but if you can demonstrate that you’ve been going to a clay shooting ground regularly, or have a plan to go hunting, or live on a farm, etc, it’ll make them less wary of you. S.2 guns can be shot on any private land where you have permission to do so (with a number of caveats relating to firing near to a public right of way, or allowing your shot to fall outside the land, etc, for obvious reasons).

S.1: Firearms Certificate (FAC). A Section 1 FAC does not apply to a specific type of firearm, but instead to all firearms not otherwise specified in another section. Because of it being this way around, it means that the default state of all firearms in the UK is that they are restricted and require a licence, unless specifically exempted (and not the other way around). In practice, S.1 covers four main types of firearms: rifles (never full auto, semi auto only if chambered for .22 rimfire, barrel above 12” and overall length above 24”), S.1 shotguns (smooth bore with barrel between 12” and 24” and/or magazine capable of holding more than two rounds), long barrelled pistols (semiautomatic only if chambered for .22 rimfire, barrel length above 12”, overall length above 24” - this is where the ‘coat hanger’ attached to the handgun in the original meme comes from), and muzzle-loading pistols (basically no specific requirements - barrels can be short, no coat hanger required, both single shots and revolvers permitted). The process to get an FAC is more stringent than an SGC. The storage, medical and criminal checks all still apply, as do two character references. However, you also have to demonstrate good reason to be issued the certificate, which typically means membership of a registered target shooting club for sport shooting, permission to shoot on land for hunters, or evidence of a formulated collection for collectors. I also know of a couple of people who’ve received licences on the grounds that they’re reenactors, with the stipulation that they’re only allowed to buy blank ammunition. The police can also impose basically any conditions they want on your FAC, if they feel it to be necessary. S.1 firearms can also only be used on private land where you have permission to shoot which has also be inspected and approved for the type of firearm involved. Due to the UK being a small, reasonably flat and densely-populated country, there isn’t much space for range danger areas so ranges always have maximum muzzle energy/calibre limits. Likewise for land approved for hunting.

Then there are the slightly trickier authorities:

S.7(1): Heritage Pistol. S.7(1) allows collectors to own and keep live pistols if they are a part of a collection and meet several criteria. They must be made before 1919, and they cannot use any of a list of cartridges in current common use (which includes things like 9x19 parabellum, but not 7.65 parabellum, so Swiss Lugers are fine but German ones are not). To receive an FAC for S.7(1), you have to submit a collecting thesis and a case for why the specific pistols you wish to acquire are of historical value. No live ammunition may be held, and they may not be fired under any circumstances. They can be kept at home, but can only be handled by the licensed collector or a S.7 or S.5 authorised Registered Firearms Dealer.

S.7(3): Heritage Pistol. S.7(3) is significantly less strict than S.7(1), as pistols from any area and using any cartridge are allowed, so long as they fit a collection (which must be applied for and approved in the same way as S.7(1)). They cannot, however, be taken home and must be stored at an approved range, where they are permitted to be fired but only for the purposes of ‘historical research’ (i.e. no competition use).

Finally, there is the hardest category:

S.5: Prohibited Firearms. This encompasses everything that has been specifically ‘banned’. Semiautomatic centrefire rifles, pistols (except for in Northern Ireland, where they’re still S.1), ordnance, concealed firearms, gas and incendiary weapons, all full autos, etc. S.5 authority must be granted by the Home Office on a case-by-case basis, with any relevant conditions they see fit to make up. Broadly, it’s limited to museums, approved dealers, theatrical armourers, and maritime security contractors. Vets can also sometimes be granted S.5 authority, typically only to own a single pistol with capacity limited to two rounds. I’ve seen both revolvers with the cylinder blocked off and semiautomatics with the magazine pinned.

Further, there’s the stuff that is never possible (except in Northern Ireland and only very rarely there): carry. There is no stipulation for legal concealed or open carry, or for owning or using firearms for defensive purposes. If you were attacked and happened to have a gun with you and managed to use it, there is the possibility of being in the clear but the laws on proportionate force are strict and there is no equivalent to the castle doctrine. When transporting firearms, you must have a good reason to do so (usually taking them to/from a range or shop/gunsmith) and they must be concealed from view and unloaded.

*There was, however, an issue with .44 Smith and Wesson Russian a few years back. Because it used to be deemed obsolete, but the guns were reasonably modern revolvers (by the standards of UK criminal armouries), a ring of black market arms dealers were buying up basically all of the .44 S&W Russian revolvers on the European market, importing them to the UK as collectibles, and then manufacturing thousands of rounds of ammunition for them and selling them on the streets. In the aftermath of this, the government determined that the cartridge could no longer realistically be considered obsolete, and struck them from the list. Any collector who already owned them could get a specific permit to allow them to retain it, but if they wished to sell it to someone else it would no longer be considered S.58(ii).

**Just before I moved away last September, they were planning to increase this to two references, but I don’t know if that’s come in yet.

I hope that was interesting! It’s a pain of a system, but that’s how it works and what UK shooters have to fight against if they want to practice their hobby/sport.