A serving police officer wrote this for Fieldsports News on condition of anonymity
I, too, have been duped into coercively handing over my legally and lawfully owned sporting guns to the police and I am just as confused as your other case study subjects. Except I am a current serving police officer required to carry a section 5 firearm in public. I have had my personal firearms, shotguns and certificates taken with no valid reasons or paperwork given, other than being told I had not disclosed a a learning difficulty on variation applications – even though I declared it on my original application in 2017, which is due for renewal in July 2022.
I informed my employer, and refused to carry my section 5 and utility belt, but was told to resume with normal duties until informed otherwise.
I have been vetted numerous times and worked for different police services in various roles, as well as on military establishments as a pest control wildlife technician.
As a juvenile I owned UK legal air rifles and BB and paintball guns, I went through the Boy Scout program and learned to prepare rabbit, squirrel and pigeon meat as food for survival.
As I got older I began to try clay pigeon shooting and loved the challenge of tracking a moving target. I also got into smallbore and competing in local target shooting competitions.
I then got in to centrefire and reproduction vintage rifles, where I took part in turning target competitions with cowboy-style underlevers and began to press my own bullets.
I am a current serving police officer who routinely carries a section 5 firearm and I have tried out as an AFO.
In early December 2021, I had an unannounced visit from my local constabulary, who showed me their IDs and I invited them in. Once in there was no small talk just: “There’s no easy way of saying this but we are here to take your guns away.”
They told me they couldn’t tell me why, other than I had failed to declare a learning difficulty/neurological condition when I had applied for variations to my license. They told me I declared it on my original application but not on the variations.
I was then escorted to my gun cabinet which they emptied. I asked them to put the guns in individual slips, which they declined. They placed all my guns together in one holdall. I was horrified.
I was concerned how this was going to affect my employment as well as my personal family life. How do I explain this to my family and friends? I was due to go shooting at the weekend.
They left without giving me any official paperwork. I rang 101 and checked that they were on official police business and then I notified my employer, as instructed in police regulations and standards of professional behaviour if I became subject to an investigation, but they gave me the silent treatment.
Eventually someone began to speak to me after I flagged up that I did not know whether to carry my section 5 firearm at work. They told me that, if they didn’t want me to carry, they would have instructed me not to.
They have not followed police regulation 17 by notifying me in writing within five days – but they may have applied something called the harm test which means I have been deemed a danger to myself or others, so they can refuse to disclose the real reason why.
I have since been challenging the legality of the voluntary handover/seizure. I have been met with a wall of silence, other than being told to stop emailing the FELU as it is unprofessional and may result in disciplinary action.
Despite all this, please don’t blame the police. A constable will either have a warrant or immediate grounds to remove your guns.
If you passively resist they can use that as grounds to suspect that you are not complying with the conditions of your license.
Here is what to do if police turn up on your doorstep:
- In the first instance, keep them on the doorstep
- Check their ID
- Ring 101 and check the legitimacy of the visit, especially if your details were recently leaked on anti-hunting websites (Guntrader and badger cull hacks)
- Do not rush anything: count every single gun and bit of ammo
- Make them treat your guns with care
- Get a receipt for the guns and ammo
- Ask for an official written explanation letter from their chief or a warrant or immediate grounds
Then you will have to file an official complaint to the seizing force and challenge them legally. If still unsatisfied with the outcome, report them to the IOPC.
More of our Devon & Cornwall police gun grab coverage:

Firearms licensing: the police view – FieldsportsChannel Podcast, episode 78
Three firearms licensing officers came to the stage of the Carter Jonas Game Fair Theatre in July 2023 to make the case to Charlie Jacoby

Breakdown in Devon & Cornwall gun licensing puts businesses at risk
youtu.be/c-VlnQpCK0Q With police firearms licensing across Devon, Cornwall and Dorset in meltdown, local country and gun shops are having to diversify. Martin and Chris Lamb

Firearms licensing crisis warning
youtu.be/EjbfeeA0utk With the firearms licensing system in crisis, barrister Nick Doherty fears there’s an increased risk of a tragic incident. Nick, who wrote The Firearms

BASC firearms licensing overhaul
youtu.be/GCi5JQRX0Sc by Deborah Hadfield It’s time to scrap the existing gun certificate system across England and Wales and replace it with another. That’s the conclusion

The Metropolitan Police’s head of firearms licensing – FieldsportsChannel Podcast, episode 62
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfCT4_dvQQ4 There are 30,000 legal gun-owners in London. Chris Downs, head of SCO 19 at the Met, and Daryn Hufton-Rees from Medcert, which provides medical

Police delay firearms licensing as livestock and wildlife suffer
by Deborah Hadfield Daniel Holmes from Bodmin Moor in Cornwall submitted his gun certificates renewal applications on January 2022. His firearms and shotguns certificates were

Gun grab and gun surrender: two extremes of British police gun policy
by Charlie Jacoby You can see the relief on Gary Ivey’s face. Until eight months ago, he had been a firearm certificate holder. He was

Gun licensing shambles in England
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyR1vxdXE6U by Deborah Hadfield The firearms licensing system in England and Wales is in crisis. Shooters claim the fiasco has made getting a grant, renewal,

Police gun grabs: a former Met detective advises…
by Deborah Hadfield and Charlie Jacoby Former Metropolitan police detective Ian Jensen says police have limited legal rights to take a gun. He says: “The

Gun grab victim: a serving police officer writes…
A serving police officer wrote this for Fieldsports News on condition of anonymity I, too, have been duped into coercively handing over my legally and

Police offer compensation to gun grab victim
www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4xkgjLhVB4 by Deborah Hadfield and Charlie Jacoby Many shooters have lost their guns to police in the South-West of England since the shooting in Plymouth

Paul Cox: Devon & Cornwall gun grab victim
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEctbsFPXbA by Deborah Hadfield and Charlie Jacoby Paul Cox is a respected member of his community, a deerstalker and captain of the local shoot. Devon