News
General Licences
NatureScot have just published the General Licences for 2023 on their website…
Licensing Consultation
Between 24 October and 212 November 2022, the Scottish Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament at Westminster heard evidence from shooting organisations, Police Scotland, Scottish Ministers, UK Ministers and policy officials in respect of firearms licensing matters…
Bird Flu in Geese
There has been a warning issued about bird flu amid pink-footed geese deaths in Moray. Members with an interest in wildfowling…
The Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill
You may be aware that the Scottish Parliament is examining the proposed legislation presented by the Scottish Government in respect of hunting with dogs in Scotland. This legislation, if passed in its current form would present difficulties…
NIFRG Press Release
Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Edwin Poots MLA has agreed to support organisations challenging the poor performance of the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s (PSNI) Firearms and Explosive Branch (FEB).
Lead Consultation
Without doubt, the UK Reach consultation on the restrictions of lead ammunition poses one of the greatest changes to shooting, of all disciplines in the UK for generations. In effect, it is proposed to ban the sale and use of lead ammunition…
UK Parliament Call for Evidence – firearms licensing Scotland.
The Scottish Parliament, Scottish Affairs Committee has published a request for evidence in respect of firearms licensing. The following link refers…
Firearms and Mental Health – Awareness and Support leaflet
The Firearms and Mental Health – Awareness and Support leaflet was published at the end of July 2022. The publication was included in the last newsletter and…
Humane Dispatch
At a recent meeting of the Scottish Firearms and Explosives Licensing Practitioners meeting, the matter of conditions in respect of humane dispatch was raised. Whilst the general Police Scotland condition on Firearms Certificates of any lawful quarry was accepted as complying with the vast majority of circumstances it was questioned whether the condition was applicable on a road or roadside.
Value of Shooting survey
You will likely have received an email with a link to the Value of Shooting survey by now. The survey is designed to gather data in respect of how much financial value shooting, of all types, contributes to the UK economy and how it supports fragile rural communities…
Mental Health Leaflet
A leaflet providing information on mental health support for firearms license holders has been released by the Scottish Firearms Licensing Practitioners Group. The group is composed of organisations…
Firearms Safety Consultation
The Firearms Safety consultation paper was published by the Home Office on 24 November 2020. It invited comments on a range of firearms safety issues which were raised with the Government during the passage through Parliament of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019…
Northern Ireland “Critical Incident”
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has declared a “critical incident” due to protracted backlogs of applications within its firearms licensing department. A critical incident is defined as “Any incident where the effectiveness of the police response is likely to have a significant …
Raise the Game: Four Years on and Still Going Strong
RAISE the Game was launched in summer 2018 in response to concern for the health and wellbeing of those in the gamekeeping community. The partnership across the fieldsports sector brings together key organisations to work with the Gamekeepers’ Welfare Trust…
Rooks and the GL02
The SACS office has recently received a number of enquiries about the shooting of rooks in Scotland, particularly in relation to “branchers”, immature birds which are still hanging around the nest but haven’t properly learnt to fly. These birds would traditionally have been controlled for a number of reasons…
HSE AND UK REACH PUBLISH PROPOSED LEAD AMMO RESTRICTIONS
The UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today published the long-awaited UK REACH (UK chemicals agency) report on their recommended restrictions for lead ammunition types in the UK. Essentially UK REACH’s proposed restrictions would result in widespread bans on lead ammunition shot and bullets used in…
Useful Links
The following links lead to the principal documents or legislation which impact upon firearms licensing. Should you have any queries about the information in the websites, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call the SACS office…
A New Website!
Welcome to the new SACS website! This site reflects many changes we’re making at SACS at the moment, and we hope that in the coming months it will grow to better reflect your needs as members. We’ve moved many of our best blog articles over to the News section of this site, but we’re also working to produce new material on important issues like General Licences, Firearms Law and policy issues which impact on your day-to-day…
Northern Ireland Update
IMPORTANT - Update on temporary closure of the PSNI online firearms application system. Further to our initial announcement on the planned downtime, BASC and our partner organisations have been advised that the downtime has now been pushed back several weeks. The online site will now close at the later date of 28th March until 10th April 2022. We have also been advised that the website closure will not extend beyond 2 weeks…