No. Our storage terms don't allow firearms, explosives, weapons or ammunition in any Wigwam unit, and that includes guns held legally on a firearm or shotgun certificate. If you're moving house, the rest of your home can come into storage but the guns can't: keeping them secure is your responsibility under your certificate, so ask your police firearms licensing team what they will accept in the meantime. If you're an executor clearing someone's home, the police (or a registered firearms dealer) are the first call, before the guns are moved. If you're asking about a deactivated gun, a replica, an antique or a blade, see "What our terms say" and call us before you bring it.
What our terms say
Clause 18 of our licence agreement says: "You must not store (or allow any other person to store) any of the following in the Unit". Item (d) on that list is "firearms, explosives, weapons or ammunition".
In plain words:
- It covers everything in the unit, whoever put it there. A relative, a removals crew or a colleague with access can't add a gun to your unit either.
- It makes no exception for a certificate, for business use or for how the item is packed or locked. A locked gun case or cabinet with a gun inside is still a gun in the unit.
- The terms don't define "weapons". If you're not sure whether something counts, such as an antique, a deactivated gun, a replica, a blade such as a bayonet or sword, or powder flasks or horns, call us on 0800 2545585 before you bring it.
In law, the Home Office guide says a gun deactivated to the approved standard "is presumed not to be a firearm within the meaning of the 1968 Act and therefore is not subject to control if it bears a mark approved by the Secretary of State for denoting that fact", and it must also be certified in writing. Our terms also name "weapons", which they don't define, so whether we accept a deactivated gun is a question for us: call before you bring it.
An empty gun cabinet isn't a firearm, weapon or ammunition, so clause 18(d) doesn't cover it.
If we believe prohibited goods are being stored, clause 17 lets us enter the unit, breaking the lock if that's reasonably necessary. The same clause lets us enter where the police or another authority requires it. Under clause 41, we can end the agreement immediately for illegal activity, or for a breach you haven't put right within 14 days of our asking. Telling us and taking it out is how you put it right, within those 14 days.
Why the rule exists
The law puts the security duty on the certificate holder. The Home Office guide on firearms licensing law says certificate conditions require guns and ammunition to be "stored securely so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, access to the firearms or ammunition by an unauthorised person", and that how they are stored "depends on the individual property and circumstances". The police assess that security. A storage unit isn't somewhere the holder controls in that way. Keeping the guns secure is your responsibility under your certificate; ask your police firearms licensing team what they will accept if your own arrangements are interrupted.
Moving house with a shotgun or firearm
Furniture, boxes and everything else can go into a unit while you're between homes. The guns can't.
Two things in the certificate conditions matter during a move:
- you must tell the police force that granted your certificate about a change of permanent address "without undue delay";
- if you move to a different police area, the new force should amend the certificate and inspect the security at your new home.
While the guns are in transit, the conditions say "reasonable precautions must be taken for the safe custody of the firearms or ammunition".
If there's a gap between homes, or your new cabinet isn't fitted yet, speak to your police firearms licensing team before moving day. Where guns can be kept for the gap, for example with a registered firearms dealer, is for your licensing team to confirm.
Found or inherited guns while clearing a relative's home
If you find guns or ammunition while clearing a parent's or relative's home, keep them out of the boxes going into storage.
The Home Office guide says that when a certificate holder dies, "the person inheriting the effects must surrender or declare the weapons to the police or a registered firearms dealer", and that it is the inheritor's responsibility "to find out whether firearms are part of the deceased's effects". The police can issue a permit for a relative or executor to hold the guns temporarily while the estate is dealt with. Options afterwards include applying for a certificate, selling or transferring the guns, or having them destroyed. This applies to a gun that needed a certificate, whether or not you can find it.
An air rifle may not need a certificate at all. The guide says: "Low-powered air weapons are not licensed in England and Wales unless they are of a type declared specially dangerous by the Firearms (Dangerous Air Weapons) Rules 1969". The police or a registered firearms dealer can tell you which yours is. Either way, it can't go in a unit (see below). This page doesn't cover whether you can keep an air rifle at home; the police or a registered firearms dealer can advise.
So the order is: contact the police firearms licensing team for the area (or a registered firearms dealer) first, include any ammunition when you contact the police, and let them tell you how the guns should be handled. Everything else in the house can come into storage while the estate is sorted out. Our page on what happens to a storage unit when the renter dies covers the unit side.
Businesses, shooting grounds and trade stock
Clause 18 makes no exception for business use. Trade stock and a shoot's guns and cartridges can't be stored in a unit. If you're unsure whether an item such as a prop, replica or piece of equipment counts as a "weapon", ask us before you book.
If a gun, air rifle or pellets are in your unit already
If a gun or ammunition is in your unit now, perhaps packed by someone else during a clearance, call us on 0800 2545585. This includes an air rifle and its pellets. Explaining the rules for under-18s, the Home Office guide says "any firearm or ammunition" there "will include air weapons and ammunition for air weapons" (para 7.11), so clause 18(d)'s "firearms" and "ammunition" cover them.
- For a shotgun or other firearm, call your police firearms licensing team too, and ask the police how it should be moved before anyone moves it.
- For an air rifle, the police or a registered firearms dealer can tell you whether it needs a certificate.
Storing everything else
For the rest of a move or a house clearance, get a price online or call 0800 2545585. Our list of prohibited goods shows what else must stay out of the unit.
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