With police firearms licensing across Devon, Cornwall and Dorset in meltdown, local country and gun shops are having to diversify. Martin and Chris Lamb run the Country Sport Shop in Bovey Tracey, Devon. They have opened ‘The Barbecue Shack‘ to go alongside their business supplying local gamekeepers, shoots and pest controllers. They tell their story.
Here’s the most recent letter from Devon & Cornwall Firearms Licensing:

Devon & Cornwall police is sending out an email to applicants explaining the chaos surrounding firearms licensing. While other forces have run normal firearms licensing throughout covid, Devon & Cornwall police continues to blame the pandemic lockdowns for the collapse of its service. Its email refers to ‘weapon’ instead of ‘firearm’, showing a misunderstanding of the licensing process. It refers to ‘legislation’ when it means ‘statutory guidance’. It mentions delays in licensing but not the delays of up to two-and-a-half years that some shooters have suffered. It goes on to beg gun owners not to contact firearms licensing officials.
More on the Devon & Cornwall gun grab story here:

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