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Message: [QUOTE="Bombastus, post: 91539, member: 2178"] Kenyan law requires every person possessing a firearm or ammunition to keep it securely, in safe custody, and in a safe condition. The duty applies continuously, not only when the weapon is sitting at home overnight. For a civilian certificate holder, safe custody has a fairly tight legal meaning. The firearm must be in the licensee’s physical custody or in a safe approved for that purpose by the licensing officer. This existing storage duty is separate from [B][URL='https://goldmidi.com/community/threads/kenya-gun-owners-face-mad-checks-and-wacky-insurance-drama.11942/']Kenya’s proposed firearm-owner checks[/URL][/B]. Those proposals concern recurring screening and insurance, while Section 18 already controls where a licensed gun may be kept and who may reach it. [HEADING=2]An unattended car is not safe custody[/HEADING] A Kenyan High Court appeal gives the rule some teeth. A firearm holder left his gun under the driver’s seat of an unattended vehicle while he stepped away, and the weapon was stolen. The court upheld his conviction for failing to keep the firearm in safe custody. He no longer had physical custody, and the vehicle was not an approved safe. Hiding the gun under a seat did not change either fact. A hidden gun is not necessarily a legally stored gun. A locked car, drawer, wardrobe, suitcase, or improvised compartment does not become an approved safe simply because another person is unlikely to notice it. The Firearms Rules add a related condition to the certificate itself. When a firearm or ammunition is not in actual use, it must be kept somewhere secure to prevent access by unauthorized people. Section 18 also requires reasonable precautions against loss or theft. It requires the holder to keep firearms and ammunition away from anyone who is not lawfully entitled to possess them. The rule covers ammunition as well as the firearm itself. A certificate holder cannot treat cartridges as ordinary household property once the gun has been locked away. The same duties of security, safe custody, and restricted access apply to both. [B]Approved safe custody for licensed firearms[/B] therefore asks more than whether the weapon is out of sight. Ordinary household privacy does not amount to lawful control over access. [HEADING=2]Storage duties begin before a certificate is granted[/HEADING] Safe custody is not an obligation that suddenly appears after licensing. Before granting a certificate, the licensing officer must be satisfied that the applicant will keep the firearm secure and in safe custody. The officer must also be satisfied that reasonable precautions will prevent loss, theft, or unauthorized access. Storage is part of the suitability decision before you ever receive a certificate. A later failure can carry criminal consequences. Section 18 provides for imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to ten thousand Kenyan shillings, or both. The statutory fine looks modest beside the seriousness of the offence. A storage failure can still mean prosecution, a missing weapon, licensing scrutiny, and fresh questions about whether the holder remains fit to possess firearms. Other people in the home matter too. Leaving a gun where an unlicensed spouse, visitor, employee, or child can reach it cuts directly against the requirement to prevent unauthorized access. Physical custody should also be read plainly. Keeping the firearm on your person is very different from walking away and relying on an ordinary hiding place to protect it. [HEADING=2]Police-station storage has limits of its own[/HEADING] Kenyan police rules allow some civilian firearms to be deposited at a police station for safe custody. It is not an unlimited public storage service. Acceptance depends on the owner’s firearm certificate containing a condition that permits the deposit. Once accepted, the firearm is entered in the Civilian Firearm Register, labelled, and examined for defects. Police also issue a receipt and record the weapon’s identifying details and the reason it was deposited. Normal station storage is limited to one month. If the firearm stays longer, police rules provide for transfer to the Central Firearms Armory. Storage there may continue for up to three months before the owner must make other arrangements. A firearm forwarded to the Bureau is not simply handed back on request. Release requires a valid firearm certificate or temporary permit. Police rules contain another detail that is easy to miss. A firearm deposited in a locked box will not be accepted unless the key is left with the container. Civilian firearms held at police stations must also be clearly labelled with the owner’s name and address, calibre, make, and identity number. The deposit is recorded in the Civilian Firearms Register and tied to an official receipt. [/QUOTE]

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