The Act brought together all existing firearms legislation in a single statute.

For the first time, it introduced controls for long-barrelled shotguns, in the form of shotgun certificates that, like firearm certificates, were issued by an area's chief constable in England, Scotland, and Wales.

[1] The Act was accompanied by an amnesty; many older weapons were handed in to the police.

Following the Hungerford massacre, the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 extended the class of prohibited weapons.

This legislation in the United Kingdom, or its constituent jurisdictions, article is a stub.