The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

The usual political doublespeak.

Sandgroper wrote: The hon. Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown) has tabled amendments relating to firearms fees. Currently, combined, the authorisation and licensing of prohibited weapons, shooting clubs and museums cost the taxpayer an estimated £700,000 a year. It is our intention that licence holders, not the taxpayer, should pay for the cost of the service.

Is that all........

Marvellous.......they are chasing us for a mere 700 grand a year, yet don't seem to be too bothered at the literally millions, if not billions of taxpayers money squandered and wasted by all and sundry.......

As ever, an easy target

If it would help their coffers they could always go back to the old system - a license bought for a peppercorn fee from the Post Office. Or go back further to the Victorian system of concentrating on criminals and leaving decent citizens to buy and carry as they pleased.
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Sandgroper wrote:
The hon. Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown) has tabled amendments relating to firearms fees. Currently, combined, the authorisation and licensing of prohibited weapons, shooting clubs and museums cost the taxpayer an estimated £700,000 a year. It is our intention that licence holders, not the taxpayer, should pay for the cost of the service.

Why are shooters as a group being singled out? Licensed shooters have to pay for museums?!
I am thinking they are referring to shooting related museums however it does not make sense.
I am a tax payer in this country, I have never used a library. Is it only library users who should pay for libraries?

...and one of my bug bears...travellers...do not pay tax yet they use the road system and the A&E.

christel wrote:

Sandgroper wrote:
The hon. Member for West Ham (Lyn Brown) has tabled amendments relating to firearms fees. Currently, combined, the authorisation and licensing of prohibited weapons, shooting clubs and museums cost the taxpayer an estimated £700,000 a year. It is our intention that licence holders, not the taxpayer, should pay for the cost of the service.

Why are shooters as a group being singled out? Licensed shooters have to pay for museums?!
I am thinking they are referring to shooting related museums however it does not make sense.
I am a tax payer in this country, I have never used a library. Is it only library users who should pay for libraries?

...and one of my bug bears...travellers...do not pay tax yet they use the road system and the A&E.

She hasn't made it clear, possibly got confused herself as the actual bill is to allow the Govt to increase fees for the holders of Section 5 firearms, which includes Museums, and to cover costs for HO approved clubs.

Full cost recovery is an amendment tabled by the Opposition and not the purpose of this Bill - at the moment.

Could be she is lashing out because it seems like the thing to do.

There really are some uninformed people out there...a lot of them are MPs

She's not actually lashing out but trying to explain the Govt position to the House and in particular a Labour MP who was banging on about full cost recovery.

The key point to the FAC/SGC fees question is at the end of the last portion I quoted in which she said

Fees for firearms and shotgun certificates issued by the police are separate and were increased in April 2015. Those were the first increases since 2001. My hon. Friend the Member for The Cotswolds talked about the police’s new online e-commerce system. Once that has been introduced across all 43 forces, fees will recover the full cost of licensing.

Reading between the lines that could mean,
1) No further increases (apart from inflation) due to the efficiency of the e-commerce system, or
2) With the e-commerce system in place the Police will want fees increase to cover costs of the new system.

Take your pick...


Edit: Full Cost Recovery as tabled by Labour MP Lyn Brown

Notices of Amendments: 20 April 2016


Policing and Crime Bill, continued

Lyn Brown

To move the following Clause—

“Firearms: Full recovery of the licence costs

(1) The Firearms Act 1968 is amended as follows.
(2) At the end of section 53 insert—

“(4) The Secretary of State must set the sum payable at the full cost to the tax payer of issuing a licence.””


Member’s explanatory statement
This new clause would help to ensure full costs recovery of the licencing of guns.