Film-makers risk five years in prison for gun props

SCOTTISH film-makers were yesterday told to surrender guns commonly used as props in dozens of productions,to avoid a potential five-year jail sentence.

The police warning comes after the Home Office reclassified the Olympic .380 BBM revolver – commonly known as a "blank firer" used in the film and TV industry.

Film-makers have, in the past, bought the BBM through registered firearms dealers and other outlets such as hobby stores, and required no licence. But tests carried out by senior forensic scientists have identified the guns as being readily convertible, which means they can be turned into "a lethally barreled weapon".

It is now illegal to possess the firearm and anyone found to be in breach of this could face a five-year mandatory prison sentence.

The Metropolitan Police has now announced a specifically targeted amnesty for owners to surrender their guns – converted or unconverted. It will run until midnight on 4 June.

A spokeswoman for Scottish Screen – the national development agency for the screen industries in Scotland – said they had been approached by the Met in a bid to inform the industry in Scotland.

She said: "The Olympic .380 is the most commonly used gun in the film and TV industries, but it is simply no longer a gun that can be used.

"It is so important that people in the industry know about this, because this gun is so widely used in films, TV and also in the theatre, but it now carries a five-year jail sentence.

"It obviously has very serious implications. We don't know how many of these guns are out there in props departments and so on, because they did not previously require a licence, but it is important anyone in possession of one these guns hands it in.

"Our locations manager will be circulating this new informationand we will be doing all we can to inform the relevant people in the industry."

The gun has been reclassified after it emerged that the revolver was being illegally converted by criminals to make it capable of firing live or improvised ammunition.