UKC

I'm heading over to Svalbard this winter and also again in the Summer; for independent activities (i.e. non guided) it looks like it's possible to hire a gun, though....

'You need a special permission from the Governor of Svalbard or weapon licence to hire a rifle'

Has anyone been to Longyearbyen and hired a gun? How do you go about either getting a weapons licence or getting permission from the Governor of Svalbard?

In reply to Sl@te Head:

http://www.sportscenteret.no/public.aspx?pageid=41692

It's a gun permit from your home country.

In reply to Mr. Lee:

I gathered that, but how do you go about getting one without having to own a gun?

In reply to Sl@te Head:
Join a shooting club and buy a gun? This isn't easy though as there will probably be a probationary period, before you are a full member, before you can apply for a firearms licence. When you do apply for one you have to show that you will be using it for a specific purpose, have some VERY safe storage and have no shadowy skeletons in your closet. I may be wrong on this but I did a bit of full bore shooting last year and considered taking it up regularly; then I looked at the restrictions involved.

In reply to Sl@te Head:

My friend has been there I think of couple of times now. He learnt how to use a rifle and I think got some sort of certification before going - this though was in Finland where it is probably much easier than in the UK. I'm pretty certain he hired a gun once there as they were amused by its vintage - it had a swastika on it and had obviously been claimed by the Norwegians on liberation in 45!

In reply to Sl@te Head:
You need proof you're not a nutter from your local police, show it to the governor and they will issue you a permit to hire a rifle, Sysselmannen state a 'certificate of good conduct' is required . I believe the issues lie mostly on the UK side. If you're only around Longyearbyen then a rife isn't so essential as it's a busy area (I did not just say that!).

IGP, sportsenteret, SAG and Spitra hire rifles, flare guns are far more important.

They may provide a little training. But it's best you get some before you go. Can't speak from experience as we take our own guns.

You will either get a scratty mauser with a swastika on it or a ruger m77. Flare gun will be a cal 4, either a hk p2a1 or an old East German geko.

Pm me for more info

In reply to GarethSL:
Just sent you a message, but messaging via UKC hasn't always worked for me for some reason.

Anyway, thanks for your useful reply, how do you go about asking the Police? And who do you show it to in Longyearbyen, is it all a straight forward process? I'm taking it that I don't necessarily need a UK weapons licence?

In reply to Sl@te Head:
Hi just PM me if you are stuck But for a start the place to look is
http://www.sysselmannen.no/en/Shortcuts/Firearms/Renting-firearms/
Still I would advice that you get in contact with a firearm club.
If they have a section that shoots service rifles that would be perfect.
The problem is not just the shooting itself but also how do you handle your rifle.
I see a lot of people out there with no clue whatsoever and no backup plan what they would do incase of a misfire!
The rifles that you can hire will be old and not very well looked after.
There is a shooting range that you can use for practice in longyerbyeen.

In reply to Falk1:

Thanks for the link, very helpful. We have a shooting range at the school where I work so will chat to the teacher who runs the shooting activity. Just hope that getting a reference from the Police is straightforward.

In reply to Sl@te Head:

I have a UK gun licence that enables me to possess a rifle and ammunition as long as I am en route to or returning from an expedition. I got this quite simply by applying to the my local police force with no test of whether I knew howto use it required though I did receive a home visit and an interview. I have fitted an up to date firearms cabinet at home in case I need to store it there. This enables me to borrow or hire a rifle for trips to Greenland etc and allows me to have it at home for a reasonable time either side of a trip. Last time I used it we had a spot of bother at Heathrow as the ammo wasn't in a purpose made locked metal container but we boarded in the end after the airport bobbies pointed out to Mr Jobsworth that if he seized the ammunition he would then be in possession of ammunition without a licence and they'd have to arrest him If you follow this process it's probably worth checking the airline regulations in detail and taking a print off with you to the airport as everyone seems to go scatty in the UK where guns are concerned. Needless to say it was no problem at all once we got to Iceland where they had a far more common sense approach.