Renewal application rejected

Question, is there a legal difference in the UK between an application and a renewal?
Our certs are valid for 3 years after which you fill in the paperwork and apply again.
So we officially don’t renew, we apply again.
Just wondering what your official situation is?
No idea, but I've always experienced renewals as a mere formality. Tick the boxes, send the form, new certs arrive in due course. Never an issue.
And if the new cert was late, through no fault of my own, I certainly wouldn't be putting my guns in storage elsewhere. It would be business as usual as far as I was concerned.
 
Question, is there a legal difference in the UK between an application and a renewal?
Our certs are valid for 3 years after which you fill in the paperwork and apply again.
So we officially don’t renew, we apply again.
Just wondering what your official situation is?
Why is there a box to tick for renewal as opposed to initial application?
 
I’m going to disagree with you, his handwriting may be classic gp but he is no slouch. The form at my last renewal may have been a different one from the current one in use. It certainly was before the Plymouth debacle!
I have no reason to disbelieve him. I have no evidence to believe you!
Would you like me to email you the form?
 
Question, is there a legal difference in the UK between an application and a renewal?
Our certs are valid for 3 years after which you fill in the paperwork and apply again.
So we officially don’t renew, we apply again.
Just wondering what your official situation is?
So much can change in your life over 5 years.
The police background enquiries for a renewal are almost identical to a grant.
Only the land use enquiries will be less onerous.
 
This is the form your Dr is asked to complete. Apologies because I only have this as a PDF, so I can't copy and paste.
Note the line at the top,
"The police ... require all applicants to provide factual information from a Dr confirming whether they have ever been diagnosed with or treated for any of the following conditions..."

And at the bottom,
"Please note that the police are not seeking your opinion on my suitability to hold a firearm certificate, as the responsibility for this decision lies with the police. They only require a factual response..."
 

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The GP surgery that I was with 10 years ago no longer exists. They handed back their NHS contract because they couldn't find replacement doctors when needed. We, about 6,000+ of us, had to find another surgery or were allocated one. I've got another 9 months before I have to renew!
 
In practice, if you change surgeries or one ceases to exist, your medical records should be transferred to your new doctors. So they can then answer the relevant question, that being have you ever been diagnosed with any of these conditions or anything else that could affect your ability to be safe. In any case, it'll more than likely be an office worker who checks your record and leaves it on the doctor's desk to sign.

These days, you most likely will go decades without seeing a doctor. Most conditions are dealt with effectively by nurses or nurse prescribers and even if you get an appointment with a doctor, it'll likely be a 'phone consultation. And for all they know, you could be marching up and down your living room dressed as Napoleon.

It's simply a questionnaire for them to fill in. They aren't certifying you as safe to have guns. Merely stating there's nothing in your records to give rise to concern. Which is why the doctor saying "I'm no expert on mental health issues" is really just copping out, using a bad reason not to do it.
 
GP here.

Your current gp surgery should have your whole medical record. However, if their computer system is different to your previous doctors system, then they will have paper copies filed away in their storage.
The GP surgery never owns your records. That is property of NHS England and whenever you move surgery all your records will be transferred across.

I would advise that you get in touch with your surgery and ask them to fill the proforma out with your old records to hand to which means technically they should be able to state that they have your complete record from birth.

I strongly suspect that what has happened is that your gp has just written the date that you registered with them as the “date records began” info (see attached picture). In actual fact the date should be your date of birth if born in the uk.
 

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I strongly suspect that what has happened is that your gp has just written the date that you registered with them as the “date records began” info (see attached picture). In actual fact the date should be your date of birth if born in the uk.

You are absolutely right, this is exactly what happened.

He now reverted to the date when i first registered with a UK surgery, as i'm not born in the UK.
 
I guess if we paid what a renewal (or grant) actually costs the police then we could complain. But we only pay a fraction of the cost, so I guess the old expression is true, ‘you get what you pay for’.
Plenty of departments make it work efficiently for the rate they currently get paid, which simply put, means those that can’t are failing.
 
It’s far too cheap full stop!

I told my FEO it needed to be at least £500

£100 a year is nothing.
I think they should do it for free as we are providing a service to the public

Argue that along with the fact that they are already paid for. I don’t drink so why should I fund the licensee officers? It’s all already paid for and they waste more than they use wisely on virtue signalling and rainbows on plod cars!
 
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