A future for firearms licensing in the UK, by gun owners 

The police should not be managing firearms licenses. This needs to be an independent firearms authority that licences all individuals including police officers.

my mate who owns multiple guns told me that since having his license he has become a more responsible adult. Something like getting into road rage or a scuffle at the pub can get your guns took off you instantly, even if it's just temporary until the police get to the bottom of things. he'd prefer to just leave the situation entirely nowadays compared to his younger self.

We need a 2nd ammendment. The old bill need to be out of it. The Plymouth inquest was about control.

Its mad that you can be medically discriminated against in the UK. Surely even the most mid of midwits can think that maybe a cert holder might hide or not seek treatment for a condition because of how much impact it might have on their lives?

It's always been big brother driving humanity backwards.

The whole system is flawed. Saying the person is responsible,thwn then they can have section. 1.and 2 and a national system without stupid doctors costs. And 10 year renewals are all the way forward.

I think you need to immigrate to America. I could not live in a world with out pistols and rifles and pre 86 machine guns. Real freedom isn’t someone deciding weather to let you have it or not it’s just having it. I couldn’t imagine living under that constant restriction and frankly being patented by your government how could you not feel like children. Come experience real freedom even if it’s just a vacation.

The issue are the ill people, not guns. If that guy wanted to harm people he could have done the same with attacks with a machete. We should focus on making sure these ill people have resources and a circle of friends. As I'm sure he was probably very lonely and sad, brewing with negativity and obviously no longer wanted to live.

The controls should entirely focus on the individual, not the type of firearm, it's a waste of time. If an individual has proven they are safe, part of a club, monitored and securely storing their firearms, what difference does it make which firearms they can and can't own? A gun is a gun. Works in many countries in Europe and they don't have any problems. We are paranoid at this idea that if we allow specific types of firearms, it's automatically going to result in massacres, which is simply ludicrous. Look at Switzerland.

The problem i am suffering at the moment is my Dr is anti gun , they put on my pro forma that I had ptsd and was aggressive at the same time I had my medical records sent to another company , the same medical records came back perfectly fine , didn’t mention ptsd (which I don’t have and have never been diagnosed with) and it said nothing about aggression because I’m not . I was once describe as so laid back I was horizontal 🤷🏻‍♂️

Good god,a MP talking common sense. I must make a note of his name. One of the few!!

It is only total pathetic failures which have rsulted in serious killings by licence holders. Plymouth is just the last, Hungerford was also a result of pathetic police attention etc etc etc and no police senior officer has been sacked or resigned.

A national firearms unit. As long as Thames Valley Police has absolutely nothing to do with it.

We should have the right to keep and bear arms no governments or police should be able to take our guns.

Just as in the U.S. most instances do not involve licenced respinsible sportsmen.

Regarding the early warning signs as it was put. The Plymouth shooter Jake assaulted someone. Then his guns were taken away and given back. This has nothing to do with anything medical in my opinion. It's a smoke screen for a colossal error. I put my application in on time but my doctor put my medical form in three weeks after. Meaning I do not get an extension. I have now put all of my guns in to lodging at MY expense, fter paying the doctor for the privilege. I am a Pest controller and have now lost a source of income. I am just hoping they are catching up with this backlog.

What is the logic of Police stripping licence holders of sporting guns due to the Policing failure in Plymouth?

Treated no different from the S-X Offenders Register, guns in addition to male appendage.

Most gun crime is committed by people that buy on the black market and would never pass the police check anyway most of those that do conform to the laws tend to be sound mind and would never think about hurting anyone

the police should not be incharge or the issuing or revoking of licences. it need to be a separate branch under the courts. the police have a conflict of interest in the matter

They also should tell you, that when you get your license all your free speech is gone.

Just renewed my SGC , the firearms licencing dept said that over the next couple of years theres going to be massive changes to firearms licencing in the UK Was told in a roundabout way if I had any sense to sell the more expensive ones while they still held any kind of value, nice to be told that as a law abiding shooter since 1985

Won't be able fart unless one has a licence one day.

Such an inestimable invasion of privacy and harassment leveled at honest, law abiding gun owners. Ridiculous and unacceptable among civilized free peoples.

France removed sporting gun licensing from Police setting up an independent agency.

I do not think we are being monitored. We should staff the Constabularies properly. I agree with Bill the person should be assessed. I can only speak with the highest praise for my Constabulary (Avon and Somerset) Who have done wonderfully during this mess. Other Constabularies may not have done so well Devon for example.

10year renewals and try make an online application, save alot of time and hassle for everyone id say.

Unless we get a 2A style bill, the UK is hopeless.

Hello, I live in London and I want to join a shooters club for target practise and eventually I would like to have my own firearm . How difficult would it be for one to get approval of a license ?

7 months to get my renewal completed. Applied September 2022 , licence expired December 2022 , renewed April 2023 and only after I complained twice - second one to PCC (waste of effort - referred automatically to Complaints dept ). Funny though my New licence won’t be from date of issue but December 2022. Lost 4 months due to poor administration

I think most people agree guns are a good thing and needed in life,as long as your responsible.

Refused due a years old MH consultation despite safety courses and multiple shooting awards…

The question I have is how an assistant chief constable can override a medical decision by a Doctor when they have no medical qualifications?

The variation system should go too. Its a massive waste of everyone's time, as is the "ammo type limits". The reality is if you have an FAC there is no reason you shouldn't be allowed as many section 1 (and section 7) firearms as you can safely store and as much ammo as you can safely store.

The control of ranges needs to be handed back to the Army and the license run through a national system & service as the drivers license with the review of suitability carried out by Scotland Yard! the Local Police will only be involved during the review of safe keeping!

None of these new Draconian laws stop criminals from getting hold of guns. Aks, glocks, revolvers etc. crime has been rising since the 1997 handgun ban. It will continue to rise until the law allows people to own handguns with less stringent laws that discriminate against the poor.

I just want to be able to own cool old guns form ww2 and other military style guns like hand guns and semi auto rifles

All down to the police, nobody else , ,,,,,,,as usual

Just the terms and defintions of what constitutes a firearm in any of the uk countries is asinine before you even start on Licensing. Keep your paranoid laws in your own country and those archaic mindsets....eeew

Every 23 minutes in the U.K., a person is killed or seriously injured by a lethal weapon. That is a tragedy society tolerates because 1 in 2 people own a motor vehicle. 1 in 113 UK citizens, 600,000 people have licenses for rifles, pistols and or shotguns. There is a total disconnect between the very very low statistical risk in the U.K. from licensed sporting guns, and the massive negative over reaction, persecution, prejudice and malice vested top down by The Home Office Weapons Policy Team and Violent Crime Reduction Unit, who’s policies hate upon Licensed sporting gun owners, victims of hate crime in everything but current definition. Negativity bias is the bane of the 21st century from unelected civil servants who have no personal joy and no uplift from having no participation in target sports with friends and family as they do not themselves own nor participate with sporting guns. Banal civil servants in the apparatus of the State, failing to uphold diversity, equity and inclusion, failing to bring the moral, ethical and intellectual standards of conduct they uphold only in their private life towards themselves, family and friends, failing to bring these same standards in full into their working life, treating sporting gun licence holders, their paying clients, offering them only negativity, oppression and persecution over decades of disrespectful prohibitive legislation upon the wrong path since 1968, again in 1989 and again in 1997, with unjust and illogical prohibitions of types of sporting guns by Acts of Parliament, prohibiting honourable Olympic disciplines in target sports. Over controlling pejorative prohibitions of types of sporting guns, setting the U.K. mainland apart from freedoms enshrined with correctly licensed sporting guns in Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, the entirety of Europe and the Free World. A deep level of Shame on The Home Office Personnel in London, ruining the tolerance, freedom and liberties which the U.K. is supposed to epitomise and enshrine on a global stage.

I like the strict rules & general high regulations, it makes me appreciate what I am entrusted to posses and ensures I use it responsibly. I for one would happily pay more for my FAC if: A - Requests were processed in a timely manner B - I was able to deal with more professional and knowledgeable firearms officers C - The license came as a passport-like booklet instead of multiple folded up sheets of A4 paper

I was a victim of the police with this come to my house removed guns with no reason no criminal charge also air gun removed they then said that was a mistake and still never returned it

Hello from America. I really hope you get something like the Second Amendment someday.

There are more illegal guns in the UK than llegal

Who are the best referees for your Firearm(not shotgun) licence? Two neighbours or one neighbour and the gun club owner? And how long should you be a full member for? And do foreign gun clubs count, in the EU for example? Can their licences and membership be submitted for consideration?

This is the first time ive head a BASC official talk sense.

10 years makes sense do it now

They appear to have decided the outcome they want, and then created the environment to justify it.

I am 100% behind gun safety and precautions when issuing licenses/certificates but as a keen newbie into sporting clays I’m realistically looking at up to a possible 12 month wait before I am granted a SGC so I’ve read on some forums. A 2-4 week wait just to get my GP proforma back ,then only can I lodge my application. I have no issues having to follow the legal process but I agree things need to be revised.

Alot of sense in that video !!

I’m happy to be assessed I don’t want just anyone able to get a gun. But if I’m a reasonable and responsible person I should be able to own a 44 magnum or a m16 if I want I’m a free man no?

They should also scrap the need for an applicant to specify exactly what calibre of each firearm they intend to own, and to reverse the ludicrous pistol criteria for ownership

It's all well and good having Dr's monitor people but what if they hardly ever see them or, in my case, mis diagnose me with depression when I was clearly showing signs of heart failure. That went on for 5 years before I had a heart attack. Dr's are not phycologists and miss diagnose all the time. Personally, I believe there should be a list of at least 5 friends and neighbours that can be contacted by a firearms authority at any time to make sure things are OK. You would have to have at least five so there could be no lying if you had a fall out.

Allowing a lunatic to wield weapons and then he does something which they use as a strawman to nab guns. I don't think there was any skullduggery there. I'd advise gun owners themselves look out for any crazies! The system is completely against you clearly as they are against more or less everything. I think a limit to smiling and laughing might come soon enough!

Making guns more accessible should be encouraged

I'm very much wanting to apply for my first shotgun certificate, but I did have depression in my younger years and I'm worried that I'm about to waste £80 on the application for it to be thrown away simply because I have that on my medical history. I've never had any history of violence towards anyone though. As I said on my medical report it will most likely say that I had suicidal thoughts and was hospitalised on one occasion 6 years ago when I was 16.

Be careful what you wish for. Any nationwide organisation is susceptible to political interference by the government of the day. Of course Birmingham and Lincolnshire should deal with their own areas separately, they are two totally different cases.

The Police and Government are not only there to protect the public but also to protect the rights and freedoms of law abiding gun owners.

Same in America, Australia, NZ, they don't want anyone shooting.

Does anyone know if Avon and Somerset firearms department have a pause on new application's

Going nowhere to be many people high up are into this sport so no need for anyone to worry

I am not a gun owner but if I was I wouldn't complain in case the public notices that some people still have guns and demand they be surrendered.

1. Scrap the ludicrous situation of having individual police constabularies. We need a National Police Force. The cost savings across the whole nation would be MASSIVE allowing more money in the whole pot to be spent properly. Standardisation of methods, equipment and training would all improve and save money. 2. Take all firearms licencing issues away from the police and instigate a National Licencing Authority that applies a single, fair and equal standard of administration across the entire nation. 3. Make all certificates 10 years with medical and social markers to monitor individuals. 4. Ensure one price, fairly worked out, where all inclusive costs for medical assessment are standardised across the whole country. Put an end to the insane post code lottery of doctors charging whatever they like or even refusing to be a part of the system. How can this country be so backward and out dated? It's like a compulsion for politicians and chief constables, to be as inefficient as they possibly can. And while we are at it, when will those responsible for signing off on the Devon and Cornwall tragedy appear in court to be prosecuted under the law for their gross misconduct and negligence? It is extraordinary that such total madness has never been publicly addressed. Shocking.

'waiting lists are months not weeks' over a year in my case. 18 months and counting since I put in my SGC application.

I hunt with sub 12ft lb air rifles and I believe its not powerful enough for hunting, i would want a license for slightly more power, maybe double the current legal limit would suffice for my needs of putting food on the table, im 55 and using sub 12 is difficult and can leave an animal wounded if not a good shot EVERY shot, i would only need it for hunting food so for humane reasons more power for hunting needed..! Is there such a license?

Sheeple problems

Getting a license in the UK seems so pointless for what you get as a result. The PDs are so slow processing applications, which they can throw out for the tiniest of reasons. If somehow you do get through the system what can you own? That’s right, the most uninteresting types of firearms, double barrels, .22s and bolt actions.

They should be an age limit for a start of 24 to own not 18, kids of today at 18 have a mind of a 12-year-old, well all the 18-year-olds I see have, they're not safe with a knife and fork let alone a firearm

Just forget the law and buy illegal gun, Your life is a matter

Im expecting a visit from ARU or visit to local police station within next 24 hours due to what I believe will be a false report made againts me. Shottys are now with RFD.