The British Airgun Shooters Association

£2,000,000 SHOOTING INSURANCE* for a little over five pence a day!

Join the British Airgun Shooters' Association today and you are automatically entitled to up to £2 million Third Party Public Liability Insurance cover* for any one incident.
The B.A.S.A. is the only association exclusive to airgun shooting and runs in partnership with Britain's largest shooting organisation - the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (B.A.S.C.) - to protect the future of airgun sport in the U.K.
Your sport needs you - so apply on-line and add your weight to the U.K's only airgun organisation!
Not only will B.A.S.A. membership provide you with comprehensive shooting insurance (covering use of both non-licensed airguns and those used under Section One Firearms Certificates), but it brings you a whole host of other, member-only privileges, too...
Membership of B.A.S.A. brings you these privileges...
Your own airgun ID card and insurance docket.
Free Competition Entry Tokens for Air Gunner and Airgun World magazines.
Free entry to the B.A.S.A. Share-a-Shoot directory.
Save £££ on shooting books, magazine subscriptions and binders.
Member-only discounts at selected gun shops.(Full details will be included with your member pack)
* Third party liability indemnity - excess £250 property damage only.
The Public Liability Insurance is arranged by Archibald Reid (Insurance Brokers) Ltd. who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

AIRGUN LAW GENERAL
Airgun shooting in the U.K. is governed by extremely strict firearms laws and there are severe penalties for anyone who breaks them, even if they do so unintentionally.
With the introduction of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2004, there have been certain amendments to the Firearms Acts 1968-1997. You can no longer have an airgun (loaded or unloaded) in a public place – even cased – unless you have lawful authority or a reasonable excuse. This may be that you are on the way to a gun shop, to a shooting club or to grounds where you have permission to shoot.
You can only take your airgun onto land over which you have permission to shoot, regardless of whether or not you intend to shoot it. If you trespass with your airgun, you are committing an offence of ‘armed trespass’.
The Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 has also made changes to airgun law and the primary changes are detailed elsewhere on this site.
The important aspects of the airgun laws are abridged as follows:

OWNING AN AIRGUN
You do not need a licence to own an air rifle or air pistol providing it is not capable of exceeding a certain power limit with any brand of airgun pellet. The power limit it set at 12 ft. lbs. for air rifles, above which you need a firearms certificate (FAC). You cannot own an air pistol over 6 ft. lbs..
You must be 18 years of age or older to buy or acquire an airgun and it is an offence for anyone to give someone under 18 an airgun as a gift.
You must be 18 years of age or older to buy ammunition for an airgun.

CARRYING YOUR AIRGUN
Your airgun should be contained in a secure case if being carried in a public place.
You must be at least 18 years old to carry your airgun in a public place and you must have lawful authority or a reasonable excuse for doing so.
Your airgun is considered ‘loaded’ if there is any form of projectile in the breech or magazine, regardless of whether or not the gun is cocked.

SHOOTING YOUR AIRGUN
It is an offence to shoot your airgun on land where you have not been given permission to shoot by the occupier, usually the landowner or tenant. You cannot shoot on ‘common’ land.
You cannot shoot your airgun within 15 metres of the centre of a public highway if, in doing so, you are causing a nuisance or endangering the public.
It is an offence if you fire your pellets so that they travel beyond the boundary of the property where you have a right to shoot.
It is a serious offence to kill or injure any bird or protected animal with an airgun unless you are an ‘authorised’ person – i.e. you have proper shooting permission. Provided you are, the Secretary of State automatically issues you with a general ‘open’ licence every year for this purpose.

YOUNG PERSONS
Under 18 years of age, you cannot be in possession of an airgun unless you are supervised by someone aged at least 21, or are using it at an approved club. However, from the age of 14, you can shoot your airgun on your own and without adult supervision provided you are on private land and have consent of the landowner.
However, until you are 18, you are not allowed to carry your airgun to that land unless you are supervised by a person aged at least 21. In any event, the rules outlined in ‘Carrying Your Airgun’ (above) apply.
If you are aged under 14 years old, you can only shoot your airgun under the direct supervision of someone aged 21 years or older on land over which you have permission to shoot. The supervisor is legally responsible for the actions of the person they are supervising and no pellet must go outside the boundaries of the land. You can also use an airgun at Home Office-approved clubs or at a fairground shooting gallery for target shooting.