Legal answer
Carry a stun gun in United Kingdom: legal status
Carrying a stun gun in the United Kingdom is not lawful for the public because stun guns are treated as prohibited weapons under firearms law.
Quick facts
Record at a glance
| Jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Activity | carry a stun gun |
| Topic | Self-defence weapons |
| Answer | No |
| Official source | Official source checked |
| Next verification step | No further verification needed for ordinary civilian carriage of a stun gun. |
Conditions
What would need to be true
Only a person with specific authority can lawfully possess or carry a prohibited weapon.
Exceptions
Known carve-outs
Official or specially authorised possession is outside this ordinary public row.
Penalties
Possible enforcement risk
CPS guidance says prohibited weapon offences under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968 can lead to serious criminal penalties including imprisonment.
Enforcement
How this is usually enforced
Police can seize the device and treat public carriage as unlawful possession without authority.
Same country
Related rules in United Kingdom
Rules in the same topic appear first, followed by broader links within the same country.
| Action | Answer | Source status | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| buy a pepper spray | No | Official source checked | 2026-04-03 |
| buy a stun gun | No | Official source checked | 2026-04-03 |
| buy a taser | No | Official source checked | 2026-04-03 |
| buy brass knuckles | No | Official source checked | 2026-04-03 |
| carry a pepper spray | No | Official source checked | 2026-04-03 |
| carry a taser | No | Official source checked | 2026-04-03 |
Other countries
Compare the same action elsewhere
Where the same action is live in other countries, you can switch straight from here.
| Jurisdiction | Answer | Source status | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Depends | Official source checked | 2026-04-04 |
| Sweden | Depends | Official source checked | 2026-04-04 |
| Singapore | Depends | Official source checked | 2026-04-04 |
| Poland | Depends | Official source checked | 2026-04-04 |
| Netherlands | No | Official source checked | 2026-04-04 |
| Japan | Depends | Official source checked | 2026-04-04 |
Official sources
Primary sources attached
How to read this page
Using the answer responsibly
The headline answer is meant to be quick to scan. The conditions, exceptions, and source links below matter just as much whenever the law turns on context.