by Deborah Hadfield and Charlie Jacoby
Shooters in Dorset, Devon & Cornwall say the police are punishing them as a kneejerk reaction to a shooting in Plymouth in August 2021. Now the facts support them. The number of gun certificates revoked in the South-West is nine times higher than normal. BASC uncovered the figures following a freedom of information request to Devon & Cornwall Constabulary.
During the last three months of 2021 Devon & Cornwall police revoked 54 shotgun licenses. Among them is a deerstalker who has been a certificate holder for 43 years, farmers, shoot captains and a member of the local regional crime squad.
BASC firearms director Bill Harriman says the results do not surprise him. “We’d heard little pings on the radar and that’s one reason why I asked the question,” he says, “because I needed that hard intelligence. I said I was unsurprised but I’m actually quite disturbed that they are running at such a high level. I draw one conclusion that in the aftermath of a single mass killing, there is going to be a great examination of matters.
“But I wonder whether or not the conclusion that people might draw is that the revocations are actually being made because the police didn’t do the job properly in the first place. And they’ve gone back and thought, oh, we really shouldn’t have given this man a certificate. Or it could be a complete overreaction and a disproportionate risk averse reaction to what, at the end of the day, is a very serious breach of public safety.”
Jake Davison, you had a shotgun certificate killed five people in Keyham in six minutes before turning his shotgun on himself. The Independent Office of Police Conduct issued two disciplinary notices to Devon & Cornwall Constabulary staff for issuing the mass murderer with a shotgun certificate. Since then, shooters feel that the police are unfairly targeting them.
Ian Hodge, of Ian Hodge Fieldsports in Wadebridge, says he didn’t need the freedom of information statistics to confirm how bad things were in Cornwall with police seizing guns. He says: “In January, it was absolutely unbelievable. Every day there was one or two phone calls from people. Some people were really, really upset being treated like criminals when all their lives they’ve been fine examples of a good citizen. Because as you know, firearms license holders, shotgun licence holders are the most law-abiding people in the country, and that’s a fact. And then all of a sudden to be treated like a criminal for sometimes for no reason – or certainly not being told a reason – really upset them. And we had people on the phone in tears, upset that guns have been taken or they’ve been told to drop them into us. We were running out of storage room.”
Derek Spearman had a gun shop in Tavistock in Devon. He lost his licence over a hearing problem. He says: “They’ve gone into a totally negative mode focussing on anybody who’s had a messy divorce, anybody who might have any health problems it seems to me, and certainly if you if he was being prescribed anti-depressants. They’re sending things out to all the doctors, requesting them basically to say, ‘Are these people suitable to have a gun?’, which is really a simple way of dodging their own responsibilities. If anything goes wrong, the police will simply say, well, the doctor said it was all right. It’s not our responsibility.”
Nigel Appleton is a deerstalker, rabbit shooter and retired army officer in Cornwall. He fears the police in the South-West are over-reacting to the Keyham shooting. Nigel says: “I’m becoming increasingly disturbed at the way they’re acting at the moment, taking people’s guns off them. They appear to be confusing complaint with evidence. When they do turn up, they’re giving no excuse, no reasons. They’re not producing any sort of documentation that says ‘this is why we’re doing this’. It’s quite apparent to me that they’re confident that the average Joe can’t afford to take them to court so they can just get away with doing what they want.”
In a statement, Devon & Cornwall Police says: ‘In November 2021 the Home Office issued new firearms licensing, statutory guidance for chief officers of police. Devon & Cornwall Police has implemented these, which has led to an increase in revocations and refusals.’
Shooters point out that this statement dodges questions about police responsibility for firearms licensing. It is true that the Keyham shootings led to Priti Patel’s revised November 2021 guidance to constabularies on gun licensing.
Pressing questions remain: why has Devon & Cornwall Constabulary been confiscating guns since August 2021? and why have other police forces, which have received the same guidance, not been confiscating guns?
Although no constabulary has gone as far in its mass seizures as Devon & Cornwall, BASC’s firearms department says that firearms licensing is in a chaotic state, with at least seven police licensing departments having arbitrarily suspended grant applications. It adds that 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. If your certificate is due to be renewed in 2022, BASC advises that to in order to be bombproof, you should make an application four months (16 weeks) before it expires. This will ensure that the application is made in plenty of time to qualify for the statutory two month extension.
Here are our stories about the Devon & Cornwall gun grab:
Gwent police double down on gun grab
Gareth Davies had a horrific shooting accident while out foxing in January 2024. His shooting buddy Mark Wise saved his life. After we put out
Deer manager police gun grab
When deer manager Peter Littlejohn was assaulted, naturally he called the police. Little did he think that months later he would be without his guns,
Update – Kent gun grab saga drags on
Lewis Dedman told us his gun grab story at the start of the summer (Watch that one here). The professional pest controller contacted us because
Police grab air rifles from pest controller and charge him
Professional pest controller Daniel Maddock has lost the tools of his trade and denied, for the moment at least, permission to own another. After applying for a firearms certificate in January 2024, because his boss wanted him to start taking on deer management jobs, he had a home visit by two officers from Police Scotland. He thought they were there to assess his security. Instead, they had come to charge him for ‘lying’ on his medical records.
Firearms cops grapple gundog-trainer granny
www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8vtuRQ0lOo Armed police subjected gundog-owning granny Helen Cadman to a terrifying and painful ordeal. They smashed down the gates to her Warwickshire home at 8am
Gruesome shooting accident leads to Gwent Police gun grab
It was a shooting accident on a farm in the Forest of Dean late at night. The police and the ambulance service were magnificent. Gloucestershire
Assault victim fights gun grab and wins
Lifelong fieldsports enthusiast Chris Sharp was the victim of an unprovoked assault – and police took HIS guns away. Shockingly, 10 months later Chris was
Police gun grab – pest controller loses £’000s
Lewis Dedman returned home after an argument with his wife to find a police car in his driveway. Kent police had come for his guns.
Police prise open gun safe – the full story
It was going to be an ordinary day for Phil Waymouth, picking up his son from school, spending time with him. Within 24 hours, he