Perception is the root of all evil...

[Christel]

Anyone read the forewords to the Guide on Firearms Licensing Law 2014 by Damian Green,
Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice?

It is all down to perception, isn't it. How does the ministers/police/public perceive us shooters?

You can find it here.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... olice-2012

Let us know what you think?

[zanes]

I see nothing of any concern. This part is especially refreshing:

"The vast majority of these licence holders will quite legitimately and responsibly use their firearms for work and leisure pursuits. It is only in an extremely small minority of cases that legally held firearms are misused. "

The subject of ownership of firearms is a sensitive issue. Across Great
Britain there are just over 170,000 firearms licences and around 620,000
shotgun licences on issue. The vast majority of these licence holders will
quite legitimately and responsibly use their firearms for work and leisure
pursuits. It is only in an extremely small minority of cases that legally held firearms are misused.
However the results can be devastating both for the immediate families and communities around.
I believe that the ownership of any firearm is a privilege and not a right, and that public safety
must be paramount.

Within Great Britain, we have one of the most robust firearms licensing systems in the world
with specially trained officers assessing the suitability of potential firearm and shotgun certificate
holders on a case-by-case basis. I appreciate that the law which governs firearms licensing can
be complex with 34 separate pieces of legislation governing firearms control. That is why we have
produced this guide. It replaces the ‘Firearms Law: Guidance to the Police‘ published in 2002.

Since then, there have been a number of significant events. Not only new legislation, for example
the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 and the Firearms Acts (Amendment) Regulations 2010,
but also in policing with the advent of Police and Crime Commissioners. The tragic shootings in
Cumbria in 2010 and Durham in 2012 led us to take a closer look at whether there is anything
more we could do to prevent such events in the future. These incidents focused attention on the
importance of having an excellent firearms licensing process.

I am therefore pleased to introduce the revised Guide on Firearms Licensing Law which
incorporates legislative and policy changes since 2002. We have also worked hard to ensure that
where possible guidance on firearms licensing is made as clear and concise as possible for the
police, the shooting community and the general public.

Some notable updates to the guidance since 2002 include:

• Reinforcing the importance of proper assessment, specifically with regards to domestic violence,
when considering a person’s fitness to carry a firearm. It will ensure evidence of domestic
violence is considered without increasing the risk to the victims we are trying to protect;

• Reducing the bureaucracy within police firearms licensing departments by reviewing the
conditions on firearm certificates; and

• New sections covering emerging issues related to firearms and shotgun licensing. For example
new guidance for applicants who wish to possess firearms on UK registered ships in a response
to the risk of piracy.

Perhaps I have missed something.

The mentions of the shootings appeared to be tied into implicit criticism of the licencing procedures in place at that time and under those constabularies. Durham in particular could be described as "shambolic" (or perhaps, "conspiratorial" if I was feeling a little more cynical).

[meles meles]

He may believe ownership of firearms to be a privilege rather than a right, but that doesn't make his beliefs correct.

[dromia]

He may believe ownership of firearms to be a privilege rather than a right, but that doesn't make his beliefs correct.

Correct!

[Sim G]

He was "re-shuffled" a little while ago....

[SevenSixTwo]

"I believe that the ownership of any firearm is a privilege and not a right"...

Well have we got news for him. :roll:

[legs748]

"fitness to carry a firearm."

Does that mean I can take my Mosin Nagant down the shops with me now?

[Blackstuff]

He may believe ownership of firearms to be a privilege rather than a right, but that doesn't make his beliefs correct.

Wasn't it the lovely Joseph Goebbels who said, "If you repeat a lie often enough and it eventually becomes accepted as the truth"

Especially true is its repeated in 'official' documents

[Gaz]

He was "re-shuffled" a little while ago....

Indeed. We're now stuck with a crackpot Lib Dem who believes in UFOs and little green men, while believing anyone involved in shooting is a super-rich toff who deserves to be punished by being forced to pay more for an FAC.

I do wonder how many individuals involved with firearms licensing and policy would pass the background checks themselves.

[Maggot]

"fitness to carry a firearm."

Does that mean I can take my Mosin Nagant down the shops with me now?

Stop nit picking.

You know what he means, and if you go out hunting how does the rifle move about...grow legs?

What it means is quite simple.

Would you want anyone who was beating the s*** out of his wife and kids or taking his attitude out on other drivers every time they got behind the wheel given access to firearms of any description?

The licensing authorities time is far better spent licensing the individual (while determining their suitability to own without being a risk to the public) rather than worrying about locally brewed up technicalities over chambering etc.

Quite how they do that is the problem, but a rifle never hurt anyone without an individual using it.

most if not all of the high profile cases that have lead to bad national press or bans being implemented all involved people who were on the radar, but for one reason or another they were not challenged or nipped in the bud.

Officers were more worried about the bad press an reaction from us ("He has a god given right to own that rifle blah blah whinge whinge etc etc"....while his wife covers the scars and the neighbours are scared s***...meanwhile the CPS worry about the outcome) than they were about the risks they had wrongly assessed or missed.

We do have a right to own provided we have good reason, but they also have the right to revoke or refuse if they have good reason, and you may well find that the threat of legal action wont get the sudden reversal that folk seem to expect.

I know of some cases where this has happened and quite frankly I was 100% behind my colleagues because it was an issue of public safety and protected our sport.

We have responsibilities to our sport, but we also have responsibilities for the safety of the general public and those which firearms ownership carry.