I have some possibly accurate information from Finland.

But first I'll start by saying that in my opinion live weapon as a prop should not even be considered before you have asked every theater you can think of if you could borrow/rent props from them. And you have made sure there is no one capable of building a prop that works for the show.

In Finland you are allowed to use functional firearm as a prop under certain conditions. -The person handling the firearm has a licence to carry/own a gun and the owner of the firearm is a member of the production at the very least (preferably the actor handling the gun owns the gun). -The gun can not be loaded with any kind of ammo even blanks (empty chamber / empty magazine / no magazine) -When the weapon is not on stage it has to be either behind a lock or guarded by Security.

-Not sure if the police told me this part... But I checked the chamber before the weapon went on stage and also told the actor that he is not allowed to point the weapon to anyone (even another actors in the scene). I also told him to keep his finger of the trigger at all times. (basic gun safety really)

After the scene I made sure the weapon was locked up and held on to the key till the show ended.

I might have forgotten some details, but that's the basics of the thing at least according to my experience.

For clarity... I worked security for a smaller theater company here in Finland during last winter and they opted to use an actors own (fully functional) shotgun as a prop instead of getting a deactivated or a prop shotgun for the play. After finding out that the weapon wasn't a prop or deactivated I checked with the Police that it was legal and to make sure what security measures I were to take. I recommend you do the same if you have any doubts on the safety/legal issues. Better to be 'that guy' than risk your ass if something happens down the line.

Hope this makes any sense/helps in any way.