Does a mandatory minimum sentence always apply to s.5 possession?

No. The mandatory minimum — 5 years (18+) or 3 years (16-17) under Sentencing Act 2020 s.311, unless there are exceptional circumstances — applies only to the enumerated weapon paragraphs of s.5(1) and to s.5(1A)(a). It does not apply to s.5(1)(b) (noxious-gas weapons) or the other s.5(1A) paragraphs.

Which Act sets the mandatory minimum sentence — s.51A Firearms Act 1968?

No. The original Firearms Act 1968 s.51A minimum sentence was repealed for England & Wales on 1 December 2020 and re-enacted as Sentencing Act 2020 s.311 and Schedule 20. s.51A now governs Scotland only and should not be cited as the live authority for England & Wales.

Possession of a prohibited weapon

The offence of possessing a prohibited weapon under s.5 Firearms Act 1968 — the statutory elements (points to prove) reproduced verbatim, mode of trial and maximum sentence including the mandatory minimum, and the arrest and search powers, for frontline officers.

Unofficial independent resource — always verify with official sources (College of Policing, your force, PFEW).

Reviewed by the BlueLineHub Editorial Team

Last reviewed: 28 August 2026 · Next review due: 28 February 2027

Reviewed by BlueLineHub Editorial

What is the offence of possessing a prohibited weapon under s.5 Firearms Act 1968, and what is the sentence?

Possession of a prohibited weapon (s.5(1) Firearms Act 1968) is possessing, purchasing, acquiring, manufacturing, selling or transferring a prohibited weapon or prohibited ammunition without the authority of the Defence Council, reproduced verbatim below.

It is indictable only, with a maximum of 10 years' imprisonment and/or a fine (Firearms Act 1968 Schedule 6); for the enumerated weapon paragraphs it also carries a mandatory minimum of 5 years (18+) or 3 years (16-17) under Sentencing Act 2020 s.311, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

All offence cards

Possession of a prohibited weapon or prohibited ammunition — including possessing, purchasing, acquiring, manufacturing, selling or transferring one without the authority of the Defence Council — is an offence under s.5(1) and s.5(1A) Firearms Act 1968. The offence is reproduced verbatim below. It is educational reference, not a charging decision — verify against current law, CPS charging guidance and force policy.

Offence

s.5 Firearms Act 1968

Mode of trial

Indictable only

Maximum sentence

10 years' imprisonment and/or a fine on conviction on indictment (Firearms Act 1968 Schedule 6) — raised from 5 years by the Criminal Justice Act 2003; the aggravated supply/manufacture offence under s.5(2A) carries life imprisonment. For possession under s.5(1)(a),(ab),(aba),(ac),(ad),(ae),(af),(ag),(ba),(c) or s.5(1A)(a), a MANDATORY MINIMUM applies: 5 years' imprisonment for an offender aged 18 or over, or 3 years' detention for an offender aged 16-17, unless the court is of the opinion that there are exceptional circumstances relating to the offence or the offender that justify not imposing it (Sentencing Act 2020 s.311 and Schedule 20). The minimum does NOT apply to s.5(1)(b) (noxious-gas weapons) or to s.5(1A)(b)-(g).

Points to prove — statutory elements

Reproduced verbatim from the Act as published on legislation.gov.uk. These are the statutory elements, not a paraphrase — confirm the up-to-date text and any amendments at the source.

s.5 — Weapons subject to general prohibition.prohibited weapons and ammunition

(1) A person commits an offence if, without authority, he has in his possession, or purchases or acquires ...—

(a) any firearm which is so designed or adapted that two or more missiles can be successively discharged without repeated pressure on the trigger;

(ab) any self-loading or pump-action rifled gun other than one which is chambered for .22 rim-fire cartridges;

(aba) any firearm which either has a barrel less than 30 centimetres in length or is less than 60 centimetres in length overall, other than an air weapon, . . . a muzzle-loading gun or a firearm designed as signalling apparatus;

(ac) any self-loading or pump-action smooth-bore gun which is not an air weapon or chambered for .22 rim-fire cartridges and either has a barrel less than 24 inches in length or . . . is less than 40 inches in length overall;

(ad) any smooth-bore revolver gun other than one which is chambered for 9mm. rim-fire cartridges or a muzzle-loading gun;

(ae) any rocket launcher, or any mortar, for projecting a stabilised missile, other than a launcher or mortar designed for line-throwing or pyrotechnic purposes or as signalling apparatus;

(af) any air rifle, air gun or air pistol which uses, or is designed or adapted for use with, a self-contained gas cartridge system;

(ag) any rifle with a chamber from which empty cartridge cases are extracted using—

(i) energy from propellant gas, or

(ii) energy imparted to a spring or other energy storage device by propellant gas,

other than a rifle which is chambered for .22 rim-fire cartridges;

(b) any weapon of whatever description designed or adapted for the discharge of any noxious liquid, gas or other thing;

(ba) any device (commonly known as a bump stock) which is designed or adapted so that—

(i) it is capable of forming part of or being added to a self-loading lethal barrelled weapon (as defined in section 57(1B) and (2A)), and

(ii) if it forms part of or is added to such a weapon, it increases the rate of fire of the weapon by using the recoil from the weapon to generate repeated pressure on the trigger; and

(c) any cartridge with a bullet designed to explode on or immediately before impact, any ammunition containing or designed or adapted to contain any such noxious thing as is mentioned in paragraph (b) above and, if capable of being used with a firearm of any description, any grenade, bomb (or other like missile), or rocket or shell designed to explode as aforesaid.

(1A) Subject to section 5A of this Act, a person commits an offence if, without authority, he has in his possession, or purchases or acquires, ...—

(a) any firearm which is disguised as another object;

(b) any rocket or ammunition not falling within paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section which consists in or incorporates a missile designed to explode on or immediately before impact and is for military use;

(c) any launcher or other projecting apparatus not falling within paragraph (ae) of that subsection which is designed to be used with any rocket or ammunition falling within paragraph (b) above or with ammunition which would fall within that paragraph but for its being ammunition falling within paragraph (c) of that subsection;

(d) any ammunition for military use which consists in or incorporates a missile designed so that a substance contained in the missile will ignite on or immediately before impact;

(e) any ammunition for military use which consists in or incorporates a missile designed, on account of its having a jacket and hard-core, to penetrate armour plating, armour screening or body armour;

(f) any ammunition which is designed to be used with a pistol and incorporates a missile designed or adapted to expand on impact;

(g) anything which is designed to be projected as a missile from any weapon and is designed to be, or has been, incorporated in—

(i) any ammunition falling within any of the preceding paragraphs; or

(ii) any ammunition which would fall within any of those paragraphs but for its being specified in subsection (1) of this section.

(2) The weapons and ammunition specified in subsections (1) and (1A) of this section (including, in the case of weapons, any devices falling within subsection (1)(ba) of this section and, in the case of ammunition, any missiles falling within subsection (1A)(g) of this section) are referred to in this Act as “prohibited weapons” and “prohibited ammunition” respectively.

(2A) A person commits an offence if without authority—

(a) he manufactures any weapon , device or ammunition specified in subsection (1) of this section,

(b) he sells or transfers any prohibited weapon or prohibited ammunition,

(d) he purchases or acquires for sale or transfer any prohibited weapon or prohibited ammunition.

(3) In this section “authority” means an authority given in writing by—

(a) the Secretary of State (in or as regards England and Wales), or

(b) the Scottish Ministers (in or as regards Scotland).

(4) An authority shall be subject to conditions specified in it, including such as the Secretary of State or the Scottish Ministers (as appropriate), having regard to the circumstances of each particular case, think fit to impose for the purpose of securing that the prohibited weapon or ammunition to which the authority relates will not endanger the public safety or the peace.

(5) It is an offence for a person to whom an authority is given under this section to fail to comply with any condition of the authority.

(6) The Secretary of State or the Scottish Ministers (as appropriate) may at any time, if they think fit, revoke an authority given to a person under this section by notice in writing requiring him to deliver up the authority to such person as may be specified in the notice within twenty-one days from the date of the notice; and it is an offence for him to fail to comply with that requirement.

(7) For the purposes of this section and section 5A of this Act—

(a) any rocket or ammunition which is designed to be capable of being used with a military weapon shall be taken to be for military use;

(b) references to a missile designed so that a substance contained in the missile will ignite on or immediately before impact include references to any missile containing a substance that ignites on exposure to air; and

(c) references to a missile’s expanding on impact include references to its deforming in any predictable manner on or immediately after impact.

(8) For the purposes of subsection (1)(aba) and (ac) above, any detachable, folding, retractable or other movable butt-stock shall be disregarded in measuring the length of any firearm.

(9) Any reference in this section to a muzzle-loading gun is a reference to a gun which is designed to be loaded at the muzzle end of the barrel or chamber with a loose charge and a separate ball (or other missile).

Read s.5 on legislation.gov.uk

Powers of arrest & search

Arrest without warrants.24

A constable may arrest without warrant anyone whom they have reasonable grounds to suspect of committing an offence under s.5, where an arrest is necessary on one of the s.24(5) grounds (PACE 1984 s.24).

Code of Practice: PACE Code G — arrest →

Search warrant

Firearms Act 1968 s.46 allows a justice of the peace to issue a warrant authorising a constable to enter and search premises or a place, and to search any person found there, where there are reasonable grounds to suspect an offence under the Act (including s.5) has been, is being, or is about to be committed, or that a prohibited weapon or ammunition is on the premises.

Stop, search and entry — firearm in a public place

Firearms Act 1968 s.47 is NOT a general power for s.5 possession — it applies only where the prohibited weapon is in a PUBLIC PLACE (s.47(1)(a)). Where that limb is met, a constable with reasonable cause to suspect may require the person to hand over the weapon or ammunition for examination, search the person without warrant (s.47(3)), stop and search a vehicle (s.47(4)), and enter any place for the purpose of exercising these powers (s.47(5)). If the weapon is not in a public place, s.47 does not apply.

CPS charging guidance

Verbatim extracts from the CPS charging guidance (Crown copyright, reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0). CPS revises this guidance — confirm against the live page and current law.

Possession of a prohibited weapon or ammunition/Possession of a firearm disguised as other object – maximum 10 years' imprisonmentthe offence (s.5)

It is an offence under section 5(1) and 5(1A) FA 1968 to possess, purchase or acquire without authority any of the weapons and ammunition listed in those subsections, which are known as prohibited weapons and prohibited ammunition. Some of these items are subject to the mandatory minimum sentence provisions in accordance with section 311 SA 2020. Prosecutors should see the below paragraph titled 'Mandatory minimum sentences' for more detail.

Read on cps.gov.uk

Mandatory minimum sentencesmandatory minimum sentence

Under section 311 SA 2020 the court must apply the mandatory minimum sentence when an offender aged 16 or over is convicted of an offence under the following:

possession of particular types of prohibited weapon or ammunition under section 5 FA 1968, namely those specified in subsections (1)(a), (ab), (aba), (ac), (ad), (ae), (af) (ag), (ba), (c) and (1A)(a)

manufacturing etc relating to one of these particular types of prohibited weapon or ammunition, under section 5(2A) FA 1968

offences under sections 16, 16A, 17, 18, 19 or 20(1) FA 1968 involving a prohibited weapon or ammunition of one of these particular types

an offence under section 28 VCRA 2006 (using someone to mind a weapon) involving a prohibited weapon of one of these particular types (except for section 5(1)(c) ammunition)

There is no requirement for a previous offence to have been committed.

The minimum term for offenders aged 18 years or over at the time when the offence was committed is a custodial term of 5 years; for offenders under 18 years at the time the offence was committed, the term is 3 years: section 311(4) SA 2020. However, where the mandatory minimum sentence applies to an offence under section 28 of the VCRA 2006, the relevant age is the age when the offender was convicted rather than when the offence was committed: section 311(5) SA 2020.

The court must impose the mandatory minimum sentence unless it is of the opinion that there are "exceptional circumstances" relating to the offence or the offender which justify not doing so: section 311(2) SA 2020.

Read on cps.gov.uk

Firearms – Possession of prohibited weapon — Sentencing Council guideline Legislation Quick Reference

The prohibited list has been extended over time — recent additions include gas-cartridge air weapons (s.5(1)(af)) and, by the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, energy-from-propellant-gas rifles (s.5(1)(ag)) and 'bump stocks' (s.5(1)(ba)).
The mandatory minimum sentence is conditional: it applies only to the enumerated weapon paragraphs of s.5(1) and to s.5(1A)(a), not to s.5(1)(b) (noxious-gas weapons) or the other s.5(1A) paragraphs — do not assume it applies to every s.5 possession.
'Firearm', 'prohibited weapon' and 'imitation firearm' are defined in s.57 Firearms Act 1968.
The aggravated offence of manufacturing, selling or transferring a prohibited weapon (or possessing one for sale or transfer) is a separate, more serious offence under s.5(2A), carrying a maximum of life imprisonment — not covered by this card.

Frequently asked

What is the maximum sentence for possessing a prohibited weapon?: 10 years' imprisonment and/or a fine on conviction on indictment (Firearms Act 1968 Schedule 6), raised from 5 years by the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The offence is indictable only.
Does a mandatory minimum sentence always apply to s.5 possession?: No. The mandatory minimum — 5 years (18+) or 3 years (16-17) under Sentencing Act 2020 s.311, unless there are exceptional circumstances — applies only to the enumerated weapon paragraphs of s.5(1) and to s.5(1A)(a). It does not apply to s.5(1)(b) (noxious-gas weapons) or the other s.5(1A) paragraphs.
Which Act sets the mandatory minimum sentence — s.51A Firearms Act 1968?: No. The original Firearms Act 1968 s.51A minimum sentence was repealed for England & Wales on 1 December 2020 and re-enacted as Sentencing Act 2020 s.311 and Schedule 20. s.51A now governs Scotland only and should not be cited as the live authority for England & Wales.