laboisselle

Thanks. There's at least one pic of the engine bay. Looks like a 12v conversion (but, as already stated, I'm no expert).

Thinking of biding on this. Anyone more knowledgeable than me on Jeeps (which is pretty much all of you, I imagine) have an opinion on whether it's worth the estimate and likely to reach it? Thanks.

Yes, would have to agree.

Heated? If so, not intentionally on my part. Just trying to help. The question is a perfectly valid one and deserves a considered response, I think. That's what I've tried to give.

TBH I'm not trying to state the 'worst case' here at all. Just trying to inject a little clarity and to help you, as the original questioner, understand what your position in law might be. I know some folk don't want to hear this stuff - or prefer to believe an interpretation of the law which better suits their own views/actions - but that's their risk. And coming on to a public forum and potentially incriminating yourself is probably not the best advised course of action! Remember, the risk is considerable. This is not just 'slap on the wrist and we confiscate your RIF' territory! The law is actually pretty clear. If folk choose to be 'wilfully ignorant', that's up to them. But it won't avail them in court if they do get pulled up by the authorities and may, in fact, serve to make their situation worse. Certainly mitigation of risk is important. But that requires a demonstrably intelligent, engaged, thoughtful approach. The Act sets out what your defences are. My (unprofessional and at your own risk) suggestion would be that if you are a private individual and intend to mount, or have already mounted, a RIF in or on your MV then you should join a recognised and respected historical reenactment group that holds PLI and is relevant to the age of your vehicle. And it would be advisable for you to actually use your MV in some kind of reenactment and to have proof of having done so. Then I think you would have a decent defence. The fact that your RIF is an imitation of a weapon that might have to be crew-served is NOT a defence!

Certainly the first part of this statement is correct. Of course the VCR Act made the second part of this statement redundant - if your 'lump of pipe' could be misused for crime and might reasonably be thought to be a firearm, then an offence may well have been committed. Unless - as we have seen - you have a defence under the Act. And (sorry to be boring, but it's worth restating) owning an MV is NOT a defence, nor is not being able to source/afford a deact!

As I say - ill-advised. But it's at your risk; we're all grown-ups. If you have - or think you have - a defence then good luck to you.

Sadly a court would not see this as a problem. For them the problem would arise when you tried to explain that, knowing a deact would be a perfectly available and legal option, you decided instead to buy or create a RIF without a valid defence for doing so. Obviously, not being able to (or choosing not to) afford to buy a deact would not be a defence in law to choosing instead to buy or create a RIF. Buying or creating a RIF simply is not a 'cheap alternative' to buying a deact. And behaving as though it was would be ill-advised, at best. But clearly there is no need for anyone here to take my word for it. If in doubt, take legal advice. Although a decent legal opinion on this will set you back about the same amount, sooner or later, as the cost of a deact. So...

Reading this and seeing all kinds of potential pitfalls. First off - familiarise yourself with the Act. An 'oh well - it works for me' approach does not constitute a defence in law. There are no 'valid reasons' nor any legally-recognised 'need' for importing, possessing or creating a Realistic Imitation Firearm (RIF). There are only potential defences of which you may be able to avail yourself if threatened with prosecution for doing so. Your age is not a factor. The fact that a RIF is not and never has been a weapon, is not a factor. Owning an MV is not a defence. 'No-one has ever questioned it' is not a defence. 'I wasn't sure what the law was' is not a defence. Making, buying or possessing a RIF for the purposes of historical re-enactment is a defence, but you would need to prove it. I'm not sure whether membership of the MVT or IMPS would satisfy a court, but I doubt it. I'm surprised that it would satisfy a dealer in RIFs, to be honest. If your defence was 'it looks good on my armoured car when I take it to shows' I think you'd have real problems. A simple test is to ask yourself this: if I took my bit of drilled pipe into a bank, pointed it at a cashier and said 'give me the money' might they reasonably think they were being robbed at gunpoint? Could it be that my bit of drilled pipe 'might appear' to be a firearm in these circumstances? If the answer is a likely 'yes' then you may already have committed an offence under the Act. A 'lump of pipe' could very well be a RIF. But not if you painted it bright orange and stuck a plastic daffodil in the end. Surely the most important question here is - why take the risk? The sanctions - not the least of which is a spell at Her Majesty's pleasure - are pretty severe. And there is a very quick and easy way to avoid any of this grief - use deacts. These are not covered by the Act and as long as you use them sensibly and with due care, you should have no problems. It's actually not too complicated and if you're unsure about where you stand the very obvious response is - then don't do it. The attitude of the authorities to RIFs has fundamentally changed in recent years. The approach is much less tolerant and the potential penalties for infringement reflect that. That's why cap guns have disappeared from the shelves of toy shops and been replaced by flourescent yellow Nerf guns. Remember when your Grandad vanished into the shed for five hours and emerged with a beautifully hand made wooden toy rifle he'd made for you to play with? Well Grandads can't do that anymore, because if they did they might well be breaching the VCR Act!

I have a long standing interest in military vehicles. One day I might even own one!!