Police delay firearms licensing as livestock and wildlife suffer

Demand for shooting is there. The bureaucracy is not, and delays are affecting the next generation of shooters. BASC is also concerned about the effect of the delays on people who need guns for work or sport. It wants police to realise there is a cost for public safety. Martin says shooting needs young people to take up the sport. He says ‘We want to replace people who are leaving. But I think the figures also reflect a lot of people who are interested in shooting, who haven’t been able to pursue that hobby.’ Martin is worried for people who need a firearm certificate as part of their job. He says: “Some of those are struggling to get certificates, although in fairness, most forces do try and prioritise that.”

BASC is concerned about of the impact on the gun trade because it is being deprived of new shooters. Martin says: “When I speak to the chair of the Gun Trade Association (GTA), he says that his members are quite seriously affected because the people who are likely to spend money on new guns, new equipment, or people who are coming into the sport.”

The GTA says the issue is causing problems for its members, with small dealers, which have limited turnover and small margins, under real pressure. BASC fears it could cause long term damage to the industry too. Martin says for some it could potentially be ruinous. He says: “For all it’s not a good position. It’s a perfect storm when you combine it with all the other pressures that all businesses are under at the moment in terms of rising energy costs, general inflation, the shortage of supplies and ammunition. It’s just all come at a very bad time and it makes it difficult for them to weather.”

BASC says the drop in the number of certificate holders is down to the failures of the system in some areas. One member in the Devon and Cornwall area says he had a two-and-a-half year wait for a certificate.

Martin is finishing a report on the firearms licensing departments within England and Wales which shows a considerable number that are struggling. He said forces have prioritised renewals at the expense of new grants. Martin says: “I think the worst case we have is someone who’s taken over two years to get a grant. But delays of six months to a year are not uncommon.”

Martin says the introduction of statutory guidance and the more stringent medical provisions has impacted older shooters too. He says: “There are some shooters who are looking at it now and saying I really don’t want to be bothered with the effort of doing this.”

There are huge differences of firearms licensing at the 43 police forces in England and Wales. Martin says it is a postcode lottery. He says: “If you’re living in one force area, you can potentially get a grant in six weeks. If you’re living in another force area, that grant could take six months to a year. And I don’t think that’s an acceptable situation.”

Martin says some forces are managing to cope with renewals. He was helping North Yorkshire force with training and is impressed they have no delays. He says there are around a dozen forces doing an equally good job and questions why all authorities cannot be equally efficient. He says police in Scotland have no real delays in terms of renewals and grants. Martin says: “So you have to look north of the border and say, well, what are they doing in their system, which is clearly been successful when we’re struggling so much south of the border.”

BASC says the forces that are struggling should learn from the ones which are proving more efficient. Martin doesn’t believe it is a political or a financial issue. He says: “For some departments there may well be resourcing issues. But I also think the actual approaches that have been taken by firearms licensing departments, their policies, the way they manage risk all have quite an effect. I have spoken to some of the more efficient and effective departments and, you know, they would say they have not got that by accident.”

Martin says they’re achieving what they are because they’ve looked long and hard at where they can streamline the processes and where they can be as effective as possible. He says: “I think it’s for PCC’s to holding chief constables to account to say, ‘why aren’t we achieving that in our forces?”

BASC is calling on the chief constables and police and crime commissioners of the failing forces to act immediately. Martin is also taking his concerns to the new Minister for Policing. He says: “My report will go to all chief constables and PCC’s. We are certainly applying pressure there. We’re also calling on MPs to work with their PCC colleagues and to actually prioritise this and hold chief constables is to account for a service for which you can go nowhere else.”

Tom Davies says shooters want the police to address the situation. He says: “If it’s your business and a few of them know who I am up there so they knew it was my business. I think if it’s your livelihood something could be done there. Maybe, you know, just to keep people going.”

Daniel Holmes found a solution to his problem that bypassed the police. At the beginning of July 2022, Daniel wrote to his local MP, Sheryll Murray, about the matter. He sent the letter on a Wednesday. That Friday, at 7.15pm, out of hours, his local firearms liaison officer Lynn Crockford rang him on his mobile phone.

“It was a five-minute phone call asking if I was healthy and mentally healthy,” he says. “Has anything changed with my gun storage? No. That was it. Thanks very much. It was a five-minute phone call. Why can’t they do that in the first week and press print?”

Some 11 days later (and four months late) his new certificates arrived by post. He also had a two-page apology letter from Michelle Moore.

“If this was you or I in our place of work, we’d be out of a job,” says Daniel.