Firearms licensing should follow forensic science’s example, says BASC
BASC’s Martin Parker is urging firearms licensing authorities to follow the forensic science’s model of independent regulation and accreditation.
Get information on the legal shooting season for mammals and birds in the UK.
Learn about our current conservation projects and how you can get involved.
Comprehensive information and advice from our specialist firearms team.
Everything you need to know about shotgun, rifle and airgun ammunition.
Find our up-to-date information, advice and links to government resources.
Everything you need to know on firearms law and licensing.
All the latest news and advice on general licences and how they affect you.
Firearms licensing is in a chaotic state, with at least seven police licensing departments having arbitrarily suspended grant applications.
These seven are just the ones that have made a formal announcement; in all probability there are more as there is no way of determining whether grant applications are still being processed.
Equally, there are long delays with certificate renewals and variations.
In BASC’s opinion, those Chief Officers who have suspended grant applications are in breach of their statutory duty to undertake firearms licensing.
The language of the Firearms Acts confirms that the police are the sole licensing authority. The police have no power to switch a law “on” and “off” as it pleases them.
Equally, there is no facility for an applicant, disgruntled by this lack of service provision to go elsewhere as police licensing departments are monopoly providers.
By refusing to discharge their statutory and process grant applications, the police are leaving people who submit themselves to the licensing regime without hope. That is unacceptable in a democracy.
We shall be writing to all the Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to complain about this breach of statutory duty. PCCs are elected to oversee the performance of Chief Officers.
We have already started a programme for face-to-face engagement with PCCs in general. In light of the current situation, this will be focussed on those whose Chief Officers are not doing what the law requires them to do.
The same goes for MPs; we have already written to those in North Yorkshire and others will follow.
If your certificate is due to be renewed in 2022, BASC advises that to in order to be bombproof, you should make an application 16 weeks before it expires. This will ensure that the application is made in plenty of time to qualify for the statutory eight-week extension.
BASC’s Martin Parker is urging firearms licensing authorities to follow the forensic science’s model of independent regulation and accreditation.
They currently have a backlog of firearms licence applications that is sitting at roughly 3,000 applications and rising.
BASC’s political team have contacted all PCC candidates in the run up to 6 May elections, highlighting the current lack of consistency across UK police forces around firearms licensing.
Sign up to our weekly newsletter and get all the latest updates straight to your inbox.
© 2023 British Association for Shooting and Conservation. Registered Office: Marford Mill, Rossett, Wrexham, LL12 0HL – Registered Society No: 28488R. BASC is a trading name of the British Association for Shooting and Conservation Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under firm reference number 311937.
If you have any questions or complaints about your BASC membership insurance cover, please email us. More information about resolving complaints can be found on the FCA website or on the EU ODR platform.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.
Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.
Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!
More information about our Cookie Policy