The murder of a sergeant inside a police holding cell highlighted a legal loophole surrounding antique firearms, which has since been closed.
During De Zoysa’s trial the prosecutor Duncan Penny, KC, told the jury at Northampton Crown Court the arresting officers had not found the gun on him when he was arrested and handcuffed. Penny said he is thought to have concealed it under his armpit and then produced it and shot Ratana before anyone was able to stop him.
The gun in question was an antique revolver and was legal to own, although the ammunition was no longer manufactured.
Arsenal of Weapons Found
When his home was raided, police also found a .41 calibre Long Colt New Model Army & Navy antique revolver, a Schmitt-Rubin antique infantry rifle with a shortened barrel, an Umarex Python gas-firing revolver, a .357 Magnum bullet and seven .38 bullets, as well as a pipe-gun and a dummy launcher.Therefore you could own them without needing to have a firearms certificate.
But in November 2020—two months after Ratana was killed—the government announced it was closing the “loophole.”
The Home Office cited figures from the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS) which showed a “sharp rise” in the number of antique guns being seized from crime scenes.
6 Deaths Linked to Antique Firearms
The Home Office made no mention of the Ratana case but said between 2007 and 2020, NABIS had linked six deaths to antique firearms.So the Firearms Act still contains an exemption for antique weapons but the definition of an antique firearm has been tightened.
- any weapon which is “loaded at the muzzle end of the barrel”, such as a flintlock, musket or a blunderbuss.
- any “breech-loading cartridge firearm which uses an ignition system other than rim-fire or centre-fire.”
That list included .41 Colt (both long and short), meaning the weapon De Zoysa used to kill Ratana became illegal, unless the owner had a firearms certificate.
At Shepherd’s trial prosecutor Mark Gadsden, explained to the jury the distinction: “If an individual has a genuine old Wild West type revolver, such as those depicted in cowboy films, in a display case above the mantelpiece of his or her living room—with no intention of doing anything untoward with it—then it will fall within the exemption.”
“If, however, that individual takes that same revolver out of its display case and uses it to commit an armed bank robbery then the exemption does not apply because, while the antique nature of the firearm has not changed, it is no longer being possessed as a curiosity or ornament,” Gadsden added.
Undercover officers had purchased weapons from Shepherd and discussed what ammunition to use in them but the prosecution failed to prove he was encouraging them to use the guns as anything but ornaments and he was acquitted of all charges.
‘It’s the Person, not the Weapon, That’s the Problem’
Shepherd told The Epoch Times: “They want to ban everything. They just keep whittling away. In Switzerland, you don’t need a gun licence. It’s the person, not the weapon, that’s the problem. Any idiot can buy a knife.”Shepherd said many people who had antique guns on display over their mantlepiece had no idea the law had been changed and they now needed a certificate.
“A lot of people just want to own a gun. It’s a fascination,” said Shepherd.
Bill Harriman, the British Association of Shooting and Conservation’s director of firearms, recently described the current system as “ramshackle.”
Marchington agrees and said: “The police were struggling before and then COVID-19 brought the system to its knees. The police have an awful lot on their plate and licensing firearms is not top of their list. The whole process is under-resourced and we’ve reached a stalemate where things don’t move.”
‘The Existing Laws are a Muddle’
Marchington told The Epoch Times: “The existing laws are a muddle. They are confusing and don’t do the job they are designed to do. The whole process could be streamlined.”He said: “The Plymouth situation shows we have a proportion of complete lunatics in this country and people are under more stress than they were in the past. You want to keep guns out of the hands of those people. But there is no reason why farmers, gamekeepers and clay pigeon shooters can’t be trusted with guns.”
Peter Glenser, KC, a barrister specialising in firearms-related matters, told The Epoch Times: “There are some 34 separate pieces of legislation that touch upon firearms ownership. It’s a pity that following the law commission’s recent review of the subject that the opportunity to simplify and codify the law wasn’t taken. That said the very few problems involving legally held firearms usually occur where the existing law, Home Office guidance and procedure isn’t followed.”
Glenser said: “It would be helpful for all concerned if certificates could be given a duration of 10 years, rather than five. That would immediately reduce the cost of administering licensing and free up time for firearms licensing managers to concentrate their scant resources on any potential or emerging problems.”
“Any reworking of the firearms laws should start with a blank piece of paper,” he added.
Guns Created on 3D Printers
In May 2022 police in Yorkshire discovered three FGC-9 sub-machine guns after stopping a car and then raiding a house in Bradford.Sheffield Crown Court heard the guns, which had been manufactured on a 3D printer at Moyo’s home in Hull, had been tested by experts based at the Royal Armouries in Leeds who had confirmed they were “viable firearms.”
Marchington told The Epoch Times: “It’s not difficult to create a gun if you have basic metalwork skills. You can make something which will go bang and kill someone, and now with 3D printers you can print something that will operate as a gun.”
The Epoch Times has contacted the Home Office to confirm if the closure of the antique weapons loophole was linked to the death of Ratana two months before, but they have not responded.
A NABIS spokesman told The Epoch Times in an email, “We’re unable to comment on the rationale or timeliness of changes made to legislation made by government.”