Home Office: Firearms (FRM Symbol Series) Files

Files from the Home Office's Police Department FRM (Firearms) symbol series, concerning the Home Office's responsibilities for firearms, in particular the licensing and control of the manufacture, sale, acquisition and possession of firearms and other weapons.

In addition to initiating changes in policy or legislation, the files relate to the Home Office's involvement in the preparation and passage of legislation itself. Legislation referred to includes the Toy Weapons Bill 1953, Prevention of Crime Act 1953, Restriction of Offensive Weapons Act 1961, Air Guns and Shotguns Act 1962, Firearms Acts 1965 and 1968, Criminal Justice Bill 1966 and Criminal Justice Act 1967.

The inclusion of a date preceding or following a file number (eg. FRM 7/1/1(61)) indicates the year in which the file is supposed to have been created, but often it only indicates the year in which the first subfile was raised on a particular subject.

From 1984 Home Office

Topics

Manufacturing

Weapons

Since firearms matters are primarily the responsibility of the police, the Home Office role in this area, apart from instituting legislation and major changes in policy (and also dealing with private members' bills), is mainly that of advising and providing guidance for the police when necessary, taking note of the trends in the use of firearms and other weapons for criminal purposes and collating statistics. Much of the work therefore involves liaison with the Chief Constables of police forces in England and Wales and Scotland.