In 1997, following the tragic events at Dunblane in Scotland the government of the time carried out extensive changes to The Firearms Act. These changes in effect banned the ownership of pistols to the average shooter. However, with heavy restrictions, it is still possible for individual Firearm Certificate holders to legally own handguns. These pistols loosely fit into one of 2 categories. The first category is mostly restricted to those handguns where the ammunition for those guns is not readily available. These pistols may be kept at home but never shot. The second category is made up of guns that ammunition is still available for but fall within one of 4 criteria for collection. In these cases pistols may be shot but may not be kept at home. They must be stored at one of the “Designated Centres” throughout the country.

Phoenix Shooting Club has a number of established and recognised collectors amongst its members and are able and willing to offer guidance to those who wish to start their own collections.

Whilst those of us with handgun collections held in the UK are still able to legally shoot pistols here they can only do this under a number of restrictions. The main one of these is that they cannot shoot competitively. But for many people shooting competitively is one of the main attractions to shooting.

We at Phoenix Shooting Club are fortunate in that we regularly travel outside the UK to compete in both Europe and The USA. The pictures and videos in our Pistol Gallery are all taken at events outside the UK.

Please click here for the full gallery