Due to a fairly recent change in legislation, the Crime and Security Act 2010 makes it an offence for a person in possession of an air gun to fail to take “reasonable precautions” to prevent someone under the age of 18 from gaining unauthorized access to it. Airguns must be secured by lock and key, via a cable, chain, trigger lock, or lockable Cabinet in order to comply with this legislation. Many gun specific security devices can be bought from gun shops, for relatively little expense.
The legal advice contained within this publication remains unchanged e.g. 14-17 year olds may still use air guns unsupervised on private premises where they have permission, this is considered authorized access.