Shooting Gazette – September 2019

20 SEPTEMBER 2019 WWW.SHOOTINGGAZETTE.CO.UK

DearUncleGiles,

Ourshoothasbeengifteda

Gunbusbya neighbourwho’s

packingupathisplacebuthe

has insisted we give it a name –

Peter’sadvicehereisintendedasa guidelineonlyandallreadersareadvisedtoseekfurtheradvice.

If you have any legal questions for Peter Glenser, email Martin Puddifer:[email protected]

Q

Iwouldverymuchlike

tomakeammunition

storageavailableonmy

shoot’snewGunbus.It

willoccasionallytravel

onpublicroadsandbe

unoccupiedandunguarded

fromtimetotimeduring

thecourseofa shootday.

Whatlegalissues should I

be aware of?

Points of law

Puttingyourmindat restconcerning

issues in the fi eld and beyond.

Dear Uncle Giles...

whatshouldwecallit?I’mnot

sureaboutGunnyMcGunbus

tobefrankwithyou. Any

suggestions?

PME, by email

UncleGileswrites

Yourneighbour’sgesture

isgenerousandtherefore

deservestobetreated

withrespect.I thinkyou’re

absolutelyright to avoid Gunny

McGunbus.

Presumablyyourneighbour

hasa name?Thisshouldgive

you some scope for thought.

Bill’sBus?Will’sWagon?

Charlie’sCharabanc?Vinnie’s

Van?Tom’sTransport?I could

goonandonbutI’m sure you

getthepicture.

Youdonotmentioninyour

letterwhatnatureofvehicleit

is.Perhapsit couldbeknownas

theLeftover,ortheHangover,

forthatmatter.OrtheTransient

Transit.Oryoucouldfocus

onitsbeinga donation.I’m

thinkingoftheGiftLift,maybe;

orthePheasantPresent?The

KindnessofStrangers?

Whataboutthe

Hedgehopper?Or‘Er

Nextdoor’s.There’sverylittle

thatI canseewrongwithNext

Door’sOldGunbus.It’snotthe

snappiestofnamesbutI reckon

itcoverstheground.

Don’t,whateveryoudo,

involveanyothermembersof

yourteaminthedecisionorit

willbeGunnyMcGunbusbefore

youcansay“ArcticResearch

Vessel”andit willneverbe

anythingelse however hard

you try.

A

Thelawdoesnotrequire

youtokeepshotgun

cartridgessecure,eveninthe

situationyoudescribe.However,

itisbothgoodpracticeand

commonsensetodoso.I

amawareofa casewherean

inquisitivepoliceofficersaw

somelivecartridgesina parked

carandtooktheviewthis

was so negligent the holder

couldnotpossessa shotgun

certificatewithoutbeinga

dangertothepublicsafetyorto

thepeace.Thiswasinanurban

andsomewhatsensitivearea

andI wouldbesurprisedif a

ruralforcetookthesameviewin

circumstanceswherecartridges

areleftontheGunbusduring

theshootdayandthevehicle is

leftonprivateground.

Youhavetobeextremely

carefulabouttheshotguns

themselves;thelawrequires

thatreasonableprecautions

mustbetakenfortheirsafe

custodywhenintransitin

connection with their use.

Youcertainlydon’twanta

situationwheretheshotguns

couldbestolen- which

wouldbemademuchworse

if ammunitionwastakenat

thesametime.Depending

onthesortofdayyouhave

andwhereyoustopfor

elevensesandlunchit might

beworthhavingsomeone

witha certificatetolook

aftereverythingforpeaceof

mind.I haveregularlybeen

tooneshootwherethis

jobwasgiventotheretired

gamekeeperwhostillwanted

tobepartoftheshoot– he

never missed a day.

CHRIS WARREN

Elevenses

PeterGlenserQC,firearmsbarrister

andBASCchairman,answersyour

questions on shooting and the law.

Gunbusesare

a keypartof

any shoot day.