Land already deemed suitable by Chief of Police

louis682

Well-Known Member
Hi, im sure this has been covered before and have tried to find it on here to no avail. I have been given permission to shoot on land that has already been cleared to shoot over for the calibre i intend. I have a closed certificate do i need to fill in the form below everytime for a new piece of land or is it a case of "i have the landowners permission and the land has been passed by cheif of police and i'm good to go"

http://www.kent.police.uk/advice/li...chments/Shooting on land application form.pdf

Thanks for your help.

Louis
 
It is the case that you have the landowners permission and the land has been passed by the chief of police and you're good to go

Are you sure about that Limulus?
How do you prove that the land is passed for whatever calibre - not on the farmers/Landowners 'say so surely?
How do the police know that you are shooting on it?
I am with West Mercia and have to request permission land cleared or not (and it takes them months to do it as well!)
​ED
 
Just how do you know it has been cleared and for what calibre?

I had a farmer tell me his land had been ok'd by the police - it had!, but only for .22 and not larger ,so I would have been in trouble using the .243


Ring your FEO, they can check the data base, say if it's logged and what, if any, restrictions are in force. (You might even get your cert opened as a result of your enquiry)
Price of a call can save a life time of grief
 
This condition is more of an anoyance than anything I find, but its quite simple with Wiltshire Police.

I get a new permission, ring or email my FAO with the address, postcode or grid ref etc. He then replys back normaly quite quickly (day or two) It would appear theres a national database of land that is cleared for rf / cf etc. If its already on the police database as being cleared then your good to go, if not then it needs to get checked. If the land hasnt been previously cleared and its in the same county then its a relativly straight forward its a FAO walk around. The problem I've found is when its in a different county, my FAO cant look at it, its got to be one of the FAO's from that county and that appears to take the time...
 
From what I read here and believed, contacting the police and checking the land has been approved or not applies to ALL no matter if you have no restrictions on your FAC (open ticket), is that correct? :?:
 
From what I read here and believed, contacting the police and checking the land has been approved or not applies to ALL no matter if you have no restrictions on your FAC (open ticket), is that correct? :?:

That is incorrect. The position is set out at paragraph 13.12 of the HO Guidance. See below:

13.12

It should not be difficult for the
certificate holder whose certificate is to be
conditioned to allow shooting only on land
approved by the chief officer of police, and
with whom the responsibility lies, to establish
whether an area of land has been approved
for their type and calibre of firearm without
consulting the local police. In most cases it is
likely that the landowner, tenant or agent will
be able to provide confirmation. It should
only be necessary for the certificate holder to
check with the police in a minority of cases
and it is expected that in only a small
number of those will it be necessary to
inspect the land.

If you have an "open" certificate, ie you do not have the italicised wording:
...for zeroing on ranges, or land,

deemed suitable by the chief officer of police for the area where the land is situated and over which the holder has lawful authority to shoot.


Then you make the decision as to whether the land is suitable or not.

 
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In most cases it is
likely that the landowner, tenant or agent will
be able to provide confirmation.

In most, but certainly not in all, cases however YOU are the one who will be in the "dock" if it goes wrong trying to justify what you did/did not do

The case I refer to at post#5 is the new landowner remembering the previous owner saying he shot the land with his rifle and therefore assuming all was ok.

Sometimes guidance is lacking common sense and cover your ar*se is needed- I suggest that this is one of those times
 
2p worth
open cert no probs and would mean that you the shooter must be compedant in all points before taking the shot , norm given at renuel #2 10yrs but i know this has been waved for lots of shooters ! open cert and aolq is the way forward if the shooter is skilled hunter
tin hat on :popcorn:
 
In most, but certainly not in all, cases however YOU are the one who will be in the "dock" if it goes wrong trying to justify what you did/did not do

The case I refer to at post#5 is the new landowner remembering the previous owner saying he shot the land with his rifle and therefore assuming all was ok.

Sometimes guidance is lacking common sense and cover your ar*se is needed- I suggest that this is one of those times

Irish Bob has accurately quoted the Home Office Guidance. However YOU (the shooter) need to be sure that the land has been passed for the cartridge to be used, so I support Archer's urge for caution.
 
what happens if you are shooting in scotland were all land is passed but you have that condition,atb wayne
 
Irish Bob has accurately quoted the Home Office Guidance. However YOU (the shooter) need to be sure that the land has been passed for the cartridge to be used, so I support Archer's urge for caution.

If you ask the landowner and they have provided confirmation that the land is approved then that is the end of the matter. You have made the necessary enquiries required by the HO. You therefore do not need to contact the police, unless of course you suspect the landowner is not being completely honest.

As to post 5, this is clearly a situation where you would need to contact the police because there is a lack of clarity as to whether the land is indeed approved and as to the calibre.

Another catch is where the land is approved for a larger calibre, say .308. Is it therefore approved for all smaller calibres? The answer I got from the police is no, it must be approved for each calibre. Perhaps BASC have a view on this.

So the answer you are looking for from the landowner is: a) the land is approved; and, b) the calibre it is approved for.
 
I've a little question lads I hope it's not too off topic , I've just recieved my fac and it's closed but no other conditions I'm a pretty experianced shot and have held a firearms licence abroad too how long do you think I should wait till I ask if it can be opened ? A few friends are pro stalkers and have said they will write me letters to prove competence , I was thinking a couple of years them ask? Atb jim
 
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I've a little question lads I hope it's not too off topic , I've just recieved my fac and it's closed but no other conditions I'm a pretty experianced shot and have held a forearms licence abroad too how long do you think I should wait till I ask if it can be opened ? A few friends are pro stalkers and have said they will write me letters to prove competence , I was thinking a couple of years them ask? Atb jim


​Ive heard of people calling their muscles "guns" but never knew you needed a licence when abroad:D
 
Just a question - am i reading correctly that clearance for calibre is not needed in Scotland any more? So if i have permission to shoot on land i can use any calibre i see fit (obviously within bounds of safety, humane and appropriate) etc?

Or am i being a hopeless dreamer?:confused:
 
It would be a good idea if this information was available online to holders of fac's
would save flo's time if you don't have to ring them to find if land has permission
maybe this is something that BASC could look into???
 
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