Firearms licensing: a consultation on recommendations for changes made to the Home Office
As you are likely aware, the Home Office has launched a consultation in respect of firearms licensing matters in England, Wales and Scotland.
Whilst we will be responding formally prior to the closure of the consultation on 23 August 2023, the following reflects our views at this time in respect of the questions asked in the consultation.
Our Response here>>>
Firstly, we would urge you to complete the consultation – it is one of the most important consultations in recent times. It has the potential to impact significantly on how this Government, and future Governments wish to deal with firearms licensing. The shooting community need to set their stall out and be heard.
At the end of the consultation there is an open question which invites comments. We will be further commenting on a number of matters including the infrastructure of firearms licensing in GB. The strategic leads in policing have a short term view – by definition they are senior in rank and service. They likely will retire in relatively short order and therefore have no significant appetite to drive through long term change. The only people who can do this are the Home Office. The system is broken. We will argue for structural change including national processing centres with local service delivery – the model already works in Scotland and after ten years it has been refined to be able to deliver a timeous, qualitative service whilst also providing financial savings.
We will keep you updated with our final submission. In the meantime, please take time to review the following and if you have questions, please contact the office.
The links for the consultation can be found here.
The following link takes you directly to the survey.
https://www.homeofficesurveys.homeoffice.gov.uk/s/firearms-licensing/