Informed purchase

Just before lockdown I decided to return to clay shooting and bought a shotgun at a local shooting club through their registered gun dealership. They filled in my certificate and said they would inform the police. I did not think about it again until I read one of your articles saying it was my responsibility to inform the police. So I filled in the police electronic web form to be safe, but I was wondering what is your take on this. Should you rely on the RFD or do it yourself to be sure of following the letter of the law?

David says: It is always the certificate holder’s responsibility to inform the police of the acquisition, loss, destruction or disposal of a shotgun (other than a loan for under 72 hours). You cannot delegate that responsibility to someone else. In practice, this means both parties to the transaction have to inform their police force. This may sound like duplication but has occasionally been useful when one police force has failed to update the national data base, in which case the other will, hopefully, have done so.