Reassurances given but work still to do following policing minister meeting
The Home Office minister responsible for firearms licensing last week addressed a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on shooting and conservation.
BASC welcomes sound moderator reform as it comes into force
BASC has today welcomed the implementation of long-awaited reforms to the law on sound moderators, following confirmation that section 44 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 has come into force across England, Wales and Scotland.
Our teams have campaigned for many years for the removal of unnecessary controls on sound moderators. We have argued consistently that they are safety devices which reduce noise, protect hearing and minimise disturbance and are not firearms in their own right.
Section 44 removes sound moderators and flash suppressors from the definition of a firearm under section 57 of the Firearms Act 1968. In their place, the Act inserts a new offence:
“2A Possession of a sound moderator or flash suppressor
(1) Subject to any exemption under this Act, it is an offence for a person to have in their possession a relevant accessory unless the person holds a firearm certificate or a shot gun certificate.
(2) “Relevant accessory” means an accessory to a firearm to which section 1 applies which is designed or adapted to diminish the noise or flash caused by firing the firearm.”
Removal of variation requirement
In practical terms, the most significant impact is the removal of the variation requirement. Certificate holders will no longer need to apply, pay for and wait for a variation to acquire a sound moderator, saving both time and money.
Sound moderators make up 33 per cent of all firearms recorded on the National Firearms Licensing Management System. For police firearms licensing departments, removing the need to process and administer those entries is expected to ease a major administrative workload, reducing bureaucracy across the system.
BASC’s director of firearms, Bill Harriman, said: “I am glad that government has finally removed sound moderators from the firearms licensing regime. These inert metal tubes are incapable of causing any harm and their control over the last 58 years has simply added another layer of controls with no commensurate benefit to public safety.
“Sound moderators have no significant history of use in crime and their deregulation benefits the shooting community whilst relieving hard-pressed police licensing units of a substantial administrative burden.”
As more details become available, BASC will be producing new guidance for members. We will continue to monitor implementation closely and engage with government and police forces as the change beds in.
Got a question on firearms law and licensing? Visit our advice hub here.
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