De-activated SMLE

[stripeyman]

An old friend died on 31 August, he had very few relatives but had had a de-activated (old spec) SMLE. What is the situation regarding this item, I recall that one could not sell it but had to keep it. It cannot of course go in the coffin with the deceased,,,,,

[Dave66]

I think his estate, or whoever inherits, would have to pass it on to an appropriate person to have it deactivated to current spec, http://www.deactivated-guns.co.uk/, or similar dealers may well be able to steer you in the right direction.

 

Dave.

Edited 2 September by Dave66

[MrEd]

I thought he had gifted it to you years before the rules changed?  

[Dave66]

28 minutes ago, MrEd said:

I thought he had gifted it to you years before the rules changed?  

Hard to prove otherwise.

[peregrinvs]

It’s a legal grey area as the letter of the law is that the owner commits the offence when it is transferred, not the receiver and as the owner is dead they can’t be prosecuted.

Having it further chopped up to the new specification serves no useful purpose and will significantly reduce its value. As the law is almost pointless and largely unenforceable anyway, I would just quietly sell it to a militaria dealer if none of the relatives want it. There are plenty who would be more than happy to take it off your hands.

[Stevie]

There are also plenty of dealers who openly advertise old spec guns for sale. The rules concerning old spec guns has still to be put on the statute books.

[MrEd]

59 minutes ago, Stevie said:

There are also plenty of dealers who openly advertise old spec guns for sale. The rules concerning old spec guns has still to be put on the statute books.

Get them while you can

[peregrinvs]

It’s been enacted, it’s just not being actively enforced and those on the receiving end have more financial incentive to ignore it.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/45/section/8A?view=plain

And whether it would even stand up in court, etc.

[stripeyman]

I will be going to the funeral on 14 September and will obtain the distant families view on the matter. Thank you all for the info so far.

[Thewebleyman]

I'm inclined to agree with Mr Ed in that he had given it to you long before the current changes. You had simply not collected it at the time. I can't see much time being wasted in an attempt to disprove this. 

 

Good luck.  

[Thewebleyman]

It is just another piece of legislation that serves very little purpose other than to infuriate and inconvenience. I'm sure that there are Police Officers , Civil Servants, and other general 'do-gooders' who just sit around looking for things to ban or amend that will piss other sections of the population off. I'd love to know when the last Post Office raid with a Short Magazine Lee Enfield took place ! Live or deactivated......... 

[stripeyman]

The funeral was today and I spoke to his second wife's son, a Scottish chap. He said that Steve had given the rifle away about 4 or 5 months ago.......so that is that.