F.A.C Renewel Help with open ticket

mrgsm

Well-Known Member
Hi, My F.A.C is up for renewal & i have .22/17hmr open from a few years ago & want to ask them to open my 223 & was wondering what i would write to ask this in the letter , i forgot what i put down to get the .22/17hmr opened up, and looking through the site i cant find any letters what people have put in them, any help on this appreciated thanks..
 
Something along the lines of I have an open 22 and 17 and have lots more experience now with these calibres and since having them opened up I have been to other bits of ground and am confident on deciding if a shot is safe on less familiar ground so I woild like to apply to open up my 223 which I have used extensively on land deemed suitable blah blah blah. .... whether a 223 or a 17/22rf all shots must be safe and I have the experience to take these decisions with my 223
 
Just include a simple request to have the territorial restriction lifted. Don't tie yourself in knots as you can reply to any specific questions that the FEO/FLO might ask after that. If the FLD are following the HO Guidance then your FAC should be up for consideration to be opened at renewal anyway.
 
I have just put in for a variation for two small bore rifles and in my covering letter also asked for my existing centre fire rifles to be open, I had my visit last week and the FO said that there used to be Home Office guidelines that suggested that 3 years of rifle ownership was the minimum to demonstrate competence and entitle the shooter to an open licence, therefore renewal usually led to an open licence. Now the guidance is rather more vague and you have to convince them that you are competent, he admitted that this made it more difficult for the police as they had no clear guidance to follow, reading between the lines I feel that this could make them err on the side of caution and therefore more reluctant to open a licence. We discussed my experience and he agreed to the additional rifles and an open licence for all rifles. I have held my firearms licence for less than two years so the lack of guidance can work in our favour.
I am happy to email you the letter that I sent in but I do not think the content is important, more the argument you put forward during the visit. pm me your telephone number I will gladly discuss my application with you.

Regards,

Martin

Hi, My F.A.C is up for renewal & i have .22/17hmr open from a few years ago & want to ask them to open my 223 & was wondering what i would write to ask this in the letter , i forgot what i put down to get the .22/17hmr opened up, and looking through the site i cant find any letters what people have put in them, any help on this appreciated thanks..
 
It's all stupid. I understand everyone in Scotland is open. Everyone in North Yorkshire is open. Do these forces have more accidents because of this? Not that I am aware of. Therefore having everyone open can be shown to be safe and territorial conditions are worthless.

:stir:
 
I have just put in for a variation for two small bore rifles and in my covering letter also asked for my existing centre fire rifles to be open, I had my visit last week and the FO said that there used to be Home Office guidelines that suggested that 3 years of rifle ownership was the minimum to demonstrate competence and entitle the shooter to an open licence, therefore renewal usually led to an open licence. Now the guidance is rather more vague and you have to convince them that you are competent, he admitted that this made it more difficult for the police as they had no clear guidance to follow, reading between the lines I feel that this could make them err on the side of caution and therefore more reluctant to open a licence. We discussed my experience and he agreed to the additional rifles and an open licence for all rifles. I have held my firearms licence for less than two years so the lack of guidance can work in our favour.
I am happy to email you the letter that I sent in but I do not think the content is important, more the argument you put forward during the visit. pm me your telephone number I will gladly discuss my application with you.

Regards,

Martin

My FEO said that as the FAC used to last 3 years the condition was changed to open on renewal.

I'd wait for the FEO renewal interview and ask.
 
I recently emailed my FLD, informing them I'd been shooting .17, .22RF and .243 on my cleared land 'without incident' all summer and asked them to open my ticket - which they duly did. Only got my FAC in May of this year.
 
I recently emailed my FLD, informing them I'd been shooting .17, .22RF and .243 on my cleared land 'without incident' all summer and asked them to open my ticket - which they duly did. Only got my FAC in May of this year.

Ah yes but you are blessed to live in the best county for firearms in the country. Had mine open from day one. Latest FAC has all legal quarry on all firearms, didn't even ask for it.

To reply to the OP just write that you have been offered quite a few different places to shoot some in different counties and you feel it would be an onerous task for you and the police authority to clear it all. Combine that with the fact that you do a lot of shooting have built up a lot of experience, enough to judge where it is safe or not to shoot.
 
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I'll say it again - just simply request that the territorial restriction be removed. There's no need to elaborate and if the FLD want to clarify anything the FEO will ask when he contacts you. Why make the process any harder than it need be?
 
Guidance on firearms licensing law

Territorial Conditions on use

10.45

A territorial condition restricts the areas where a firearm may be used by a person who
holds a firearm for sporting purposes or for the shooting of problem wildlife It is important
that there should be standardisation of practice amongst forces and for this purpose it is
recommended that new certificate holders should be limited to land considered suitable
by the chief officer. When a chief officer is satisfied that a certificate holder has gained
sufficient experience with a particular calibre or class of firearm the less restrictive condition
may be considered appropriate (see Appendix 3). In all circumstances the “any lawful
quarry condition” should be applied (see appendix 3).

Appendix 3: Conditions for firearm
certificates


Forces must ensure that where additional conditions are applied to certificates, that they are
kept to a minimum and are only applied where they are both proportionate and necessary.
Where the firearm is authorised for more than one purpose, care must be taken to omit the word
‘only’ in the conditions.
An asterisk conditions specific firearms on a certificate but may be replaced by the phrase, “The
firearms and ammunition…..” where a single condition applies to all firearms (and ammunition) on
the certificate.
1. Quarry Shooting (for vermin, fox or deer)
• The *calibre RIFLE/COMBINATION/SMOOTH-BORE GUN/SOUND MODERATOR and
ammunition shall only be used for shooting vermin including fox, and ground game/ deer (delete
as appropriate) and any other lawful quarry, and 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.
(The words underlined may be omitted once the certificate holder has demonstrated competence.
There is no set time for this and each case should be considered on its individual merits).
 
ive asked Northumbria twice to open mine,have held FAC before,but let it lapse,they refused both times........
 
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