This has nothing to do with the physical practicalities of firing old guns, but here, in the UK, we have a bureaucratic problem. Paraphrasing somewhat -
To own and fire a firearm you will have to possess a firearms certificate that entitles you to own firearms and lists the firearms you own. There are hoops to be jumped through and they are not that easy to obtain.
Antique firearms are exempt from this requirement providing they are obsolete and held as curios only.
If you decide to fire it, it is no longer a curio, becomes a working firearm and has to be licensed.
So if you want to sell it you can now only sell to someone who holds a firearms certificate, i,e. licensed to own a firearm.
Of course, you can apply for it to be de-licensed but the authorities are not keen on this flip-flopping. They want an antique firearm to be either an antique or a firearm, not both.
Regards
Richard
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