Importing a gun for your own use

[walesdave]

Have done exactly this myself on a couple of occasions. However I think it may be too late for anyone not already having an EFP as my understanding is that forces stopped issuing them some time ago.
It was confirmed this morning that EFPs will cease to have any effect from the first of January 2021.

It might be force specific - I was meant to be back in Brussels at the moment and had Gwent issue a new EFP about a month ago so I could get a few months back at the range I shoot at (they allow day membership with a EPF but not only a UK FAC).

Not sure what I'll do after next Jan

[Pete]

Do uns go ang?

Pete

[Sim G]

Customs are not the authority to sign imports on your FAC and I have been told by them that it is not their job to do that. If you personally bring the firearm in and don't fill out the FAC yourself, if they do it for you then good on them - but in what capacity are they doing it?

Yep, UKBF are the authority at point of entry for personal imports as granted under the Import Licensing Branch of the Department for Business, Innovation and skills.

[Sim G]

Most of you voted for this...so happy days

Aye, we did. And most would do again. The concept remains the same. Your FAC with an open slot still acts as your import licence as long as the firearm has been acquired lawfully in wjateber foreign country and then transported lawfully.

There are also an awful lot of European sportsmen who come to the U.K. for the sport. Some are convinced that a EFP of sorts will still exist for the UK, somewhat akin to an international drivers permit...

[Mattnall]

Customs are not the authority to sign imports on your FAC and I have been told by them that it is not their job to do that. If you personally bring the firearm in and don't fill out the FAC yourself, if they do it for you then good on them - but in what capacity are they doing it?

Yep, UKBF are the authority at point of entry for personal imports as granted under the Import Licensing Branch of the Department for Business, Innovation and skills.

Yes, but it is not their job to fill in the FAC but to check what you have imported is allowed. The FAC should be filled in by the one doing the transfer (isn't it on the conditions of the FAC?), and if you bring one in (either carrying it or importing by post) then you should write on the FAC as you have transferred into the UK FAC system.

[mag41uk]

As I have a tendency towards being thick as I get older I must be missing something here.
How do you actually convince a dealer in Poland to sell you the gun in the first place?
You might well have a UK Fac but if its only being filled in by UK border force on your return to the UK.............?
A bit like a bloke turning up at Fultons with a Polish fac (?) and trying to buy a gun from them.
AFAIK the EFP is merely for transportation within the EU of currently owned firearms.

[MistAgain]

Simple answer , contact these people .

Consular Section Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London

address: 10 Bouverie Street, EC4Y 8AX London
telephone: +44 207 8228 900
e-mail: londyn.konsulat@msz.gov.pl

This consular district includes: Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Greater London, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, West Midlands, Isle of Wight, Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey), Gibraltar, overseas territories.

[Chapuis]

As I have a tendency towards being thick as I get older I must be missing something here.
How do you actually convince a dealer in Poland to sell you the gun in the first place?
You might well have a UK Fac but if its only being filled in by UK border force on your return to the UK.............?
A bit like a bloke turning up at Fultons with a Polish fac (?) and trying to buy a gun from them.
AFAIK the EFP is merely for transportation within the EU of currently owned firearms.

You have a good point mag41uk but it is possible or at least was possible in my case.
I managed to persuade my firearms department to put a slot on my EFP for a rifle in a specified calibre yet to be acquired. I then emailed copies of my FAC, EFP and passport to the dealer in France so that they had all the information to hand to inform the local authorities when I arrived to pick up the rifle. Absolutely trouble free.

[kennyc]

Most of you voted for this...so happy days

Aye, we did. And most would do again. The concept remains the same. Your FAC with an open slot still acts as your import licence as long as the firearm has been acquired lawfully in wjateber foreign country and then transported lawfully.

There are also an awful lot of European sportsmen who come to the U.K. for the sport. Some are convinced that a EFP of sorts will still exist for the UK, somewhat akin to an international drivers permit...

or not

[Sim G]

As said, it may or may not. A deal is still not done on trade, travel, law enforcement or security..