Firearms Offences - Update Your Knowledge

Introduction

This webinar will explore the law related to firearms offences.

Major acts that will be examined include Firearms Act 1968, Violent Crime Reduction Act and Sentencing Act 2020.

It is essential for criminal practitioners in both the Magistrates and Crown Court to keep their knowledge on such offences fresh.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• The definition of a firearm - ‘lethal barrelled weapon’ under the Firearms Act 1968
• Shotguns
• Air weapons
• The meaning of ‘possession’
• The consideration of a mandatory minimum sentence for those aged 16 or 17 at the commission date of the offence
• The consideration of a mandatory minimum sentence for those aged 18 or over at the commission date of the offence
• Expert evidence
• The offence of ‘using someone to mind a weapon’
• Guidelines published by The Sentencing Council in 2021
• Important case-law in this area including disguised prohibited weapons i.e., stun guns disguised as torches/mobile phones
• Advising clients at the early stage of the investigation at the police station
• Those clients who need to be advised about dangerousness at the Crown Court and sentences under the ‘2 strikes’ discretionary life provisions at the Crown Court

This webinar was recorded on 4th October 2023