Variations , how annoying are they ?

[Rake Aboot]

Or you could have went on police Scotland website and printed forms off

I don’t even know anyone with a printer , let alone own one.

That aside, I hand the forms in and have them checked before I leave.

Posting forms , to then be contacted weeks later and queried about them is a pain in the hoop.

 

[Sinistral]

I don’t even know anyone with a printer , let alone own one.

That aside, I hand the forms in and have them checked before I leave.

Posting forms , to then be contacted weeks later and queried about them is a pain in the hoop.

I can't do anything about the law, but this gripe is mostly about the hassle of printing off the 201V Variation Form, or collecting one from a police station, and taking it back. Who does that nowadays when it only takes 15 minutes online? There's no need for a pen, or a printer.

• Download the 201V blank form first from the PS site (PDF).
• Use free software to convert this into a 'user-fillable' PDF by uploading the download to a free software site.
• Fill it in online, and reload the completed Variation back to that site.
• Download your complete 201V PDF, attach it to an Email, and send it off to your area PS office.

Here's one I made earlier on a Chromebook with the links to do it all online. You can copy & paste your signature in I think, but didn't try that bit.

• https://www.scotland.police.uk/spa-media/jidjtqdf/firearms-form-201v-final.pdf
• Sejda.com - Helps with your PDF tasks

• Easy to use Online PDF editor

  Free, no watermarks or registration. Edit PDF files for free. Fill & sign PDFs. Change existing text and links. Find & replace text. Whiteout. Add text, images, links and annotations.

  www.sejda.com
• Create Fillable PDF Online (SEE ATTACHMENTS)

Police Scotland - Firearms Licensing - general advice page . .

Firearms and Shotguns

Firearms and Shotguns

www.scotland.police.uk

 

[Vince1968]

Coterminous renewal for sgc & fac is only £155 for 5 years and Drs letter £75

That’s good value in my opinion

 

[Morkai]

Oh and I called licensing but they only answer the phone until midday.

I had that a few years ago with Malvern, although now they're 9 to 5.

When it was only til midday, I called the main Malvern station number and asked to be transferred and the FA team answered straightaway.

 

[Peakeyp628a]

Sell a rifle but need a variation to then get a vacant slot for the same type of gun , then miss the 7 day window and get screwed for £50 to get a slot you already had !

Stupid stupid process.
Why can you just inform them of selling and get a replacement cert with the empty slots back automatically.

Money grabbing , that’s all it is .

I did mine today it takes ages. I have sold a rifle, and I want the same caliber, barrel only to go on a switch barrel action. I also added a .22RF to kind of future proof all my calibers and rifles. In a way, I want to stop messing about with it all now I just want my rifles set and not change. LETS HOPE IT ALL GOES THROUGH!!!

 

[Rake Aboot]

I can't do anything about the law, but this gripe is mostly about the hassle of printing off the 201V Variation Form, or collecting one from a police station, and taking it back. Who does that nowadays when it only takes 15 minutes online? There's no need for a pen, or a printer.

• Download the 201V blank form first from the PS site (PDF).
• Use free software to convert this into a 'user-fillable' PDF by uploading the download to a free software site.
• Fill it in online, and reload the completed Variation back to that site.
• Download your complete 201V PDF, attach it to an Email, and send it off to your area PS office.

Here's one I made earlier on a Chromebook with the links to do it all online. You can copy & paste your signature in I think, but didn't try that bit.

• https://www.scotland.police.uk/spa-media/jidjtqdf/firearms-form-201v-final.pdf
• Sejda.com - Helps with your PDF tasks

• Easy to use Online PDF editor

  Free, no watermarks or registration. Edit PDF files for free. Fill & sign PDFs. Change existing text and links. Find & replace text. Whiteout. Add text, images, links and annotations.

  www.sejda.com
• Create Fillable PDF Online (SEE ATTACHMENTS)

Police Scotland - Firearms Licensing - general advice page . .

Firearms and Shotguns

Firearms and Shotguns

www.scotland.police.uk

Yeh that’s not happening

I have a phone , that’s it , no computer or laptop or suchlike

 

[Rake Aboot]

And new cert returned in under two weeks.

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

He’s from Norfolk …… he had enough toes.

No that’s north of Norwich. I’m south so that makes me normal. My mother didn’t marry her brother

 

[martyn52]

Just did a 1 for 1 with Derbyshire and an ammunition increase all one line on Thursday morning, I was contacted at 11 o’clock reminding me to send my certificate in which was posted around 3-00 pm. I was contacted on Friday midday to ask if I needed anything else apart from the new caliber rifle and ammunition increase, new certificate arrived Saturday morning. Derbyshire now have a dedicated member of staff doing variations and 1 for 1s can’t knock that service.

 

[Rob-E]

whilst not asked i will give my opinion ,

once you are granted permission to own a number of firearms i don't think it matters a jot what they are from handguns to 50cals etc you are either safe to have firearms or you are not and in that spirit it's nothing to do with the authorities really what you buy and sell up to your security level , safety is your responsibility and the places you use them have rules about energy etc so the range will stop you using a 50cal if it exceeds the energy limit etc

so there is absolutely no reason for licensing to make everything so slow and difficult for us and to charge us so much for such a poor service ?

unless they have an ulterior motive?

I met the head of Essex Firearms at the game fair a couple of years ago. We were discussing variations and he said the following when I enquired about getting a 300WM. “You’ve got 3 centre fire rifles already, you’re no more dangerous with 4 than you are with 3”

 

[topscots1]

And it gets worse
Went to pick up a variation form
Cop shop is closed
Dalkeith has a firearms
License dept , go there
Closed , no way to attract attention
Calls 101. They call station , won’t answer
Tries the number I have , disconnected
101 again , Sergeant says he won’t answer the door , email to make an appointment to collect the forms.

Go to Craigmiller
Exactly the same scenario plays out over 20 minutes but this sergeant also adds that all licensing depts have closed and everything is at St Leonard’s so I should go there as he won’t come to the door ( complete lies)

Goes to St Leonard’s and they could not have been more helpful.

So, 3 hours and 4 cop shops get a form , fill it in and hand it back
Can’t be done online
Oh and I called licensing but they only answer the phone until midday.

101 call staff are superb and completely embarrassed by the state of the service

This is what I pay for ?

It can be done online, you just need to download the form, print or type on the form and insert a signature. Once that’s done email it back in and send the funds by bank transfer with your name as the reference. I have a variation application saved to my desk too. Just ammend the date and details and email it in as and when required.

If I do sell a firearm I tend to send the variation with the notification. I have falling foul of the additional charge in the past. Be wary the blaser owner, I have also falling fouls to all component parts requiring a slot. Bolt head barrel and action. However in that case that was due to a change in instruction to the Police and quite correct. I was not happy with the charge to add a bolt head.

The systems convoluted and at best scraping by, however the Police are holding a significant risk as the licensing authority, yes the risk of an incident may be low, however the consequences are high. Any risk assessment involving firearms will always grade as a threat to life or should.

 

[HonestJohn]

I don’t even know anyone with a printer , let alone own one.

That aside, I hand the forms in and have them checked before I leave.

Posting forms , to then be contacted weeks later and queried about them is a pain in the hoop.

my sister in DK said the same when I proposed sending her a legal doc for her to complete reg. our late fathers estate.

She was like “this is 2025 (at the time), no one here owns or uses printers, paper waste and environment, we use Docusign and Eboxes, tell your solicitor to move into the modern age!” …I asked about printing at work, she laughed!! Of course not, you can’t be responsible and print anything these days!

 

[Watermeadow]

Unfortunately the recent move towards merging shotgun and firearms licenses was communicated very poorly…

The plan at the home office had been to look at the Irish, German, and Norwegian licensing systems and come up with a simplified system that meant one “firearms licence” to cover both section 1 and section 2 - licence holders would have category authority to state what they could and couldn’t have. I.e. much like a driving licence, holders would have stated on their licence:
Category 1 - Shotguns (section 2)
Category 2 - Rimfire
Category 3 - Centrefire <6mm
Category 4 - Centrefire <8mm
Etc

Most importantly for us, 1-for-1 variations would have been scrapped; for example, swapping one .243 for another would have been totally fine though the notification process would have remained the same.

This would have saved a huge amount of time and money for licensing - 80p a sheet of licensing paper, postage, and of course time for admin staff.

Good reason for owning a shotgun would have been evidence of use - so a few clay shooting lessons would have been fine (most licensing departments already expect applicants to have this anyway!).

The current licensing system in the uk is easily the most backwards, outdated, illogical system in the world. We’ve been asking for a rewrite for years… but when the government actually tries to do it there’s a campaign against it

 

[nf-fuse]

Unfortunately the recent move towards merging shotgun and firearms licenses was communicated very poorly…

The plan at the home office had been to look at the Irish, German, and Norwegian licensing systems and come up with a simplified system that meant one “firearms licence” to cover both section 1 and section 2 - licence holders would have category authority to state what they could and couldn’t have. I.e. much like a driving licence, holders would have stated on their licence:
Category 1 - Shotguns (section 2)
Category 2 - Rimfire
Category 3 - Centrefire <6mm
Category 4 - Centrefire <8mm
Etc

Most importantly for us, 1-for-1 variations would have been scrapped; for example, swapping one .243 for another would have been totally fine though the notification process would have remained the same.

This would have saved a huge amount of time and money for licensing - 80p a sheet of licensing paper, postage, and of course time for admin staff.

Good reason for owning a shotgun would have been evidence of use - so a few clay shooting lessons would have been fine (most licensing departments already expect applicants to have this anyway!).

The current licensing system in the uk is easily the most backwards, outdated, illogical system in the world. We’ve been asking for a rewrite for years… but when the government actually tries to do it there’s a campaign against it

Everyone would have supported the above if it was put forward. Which it wasn't.

 

[Watermeadow]

Everyone would have supported the above if it was put forward. Which it wasn't.

Absolutely, poorly communicated unfortunately, and the shooting media and organisations wrote a lot of “this COULD mean…” rather than actual facts - hopefully there will be another opportunity to do this and we’ll see a better system.

The other interesting suggestion was that we be limited on numbers of guns and ammo we could have on our licence by how many guns we have storage for - so if the police signed off on you having a 5 gun safe with an ammo safe for 200 rounds, you would be allowed to have no more than 5 guns and 200 rounds in your possession at any one time… so despite the fact that rifles can now be bought and sold as easily as shotguns, there is a robust prevention mechanism with restricting and reducing the number of guns out there.

I’m told the police look at risk to public safety in part by looking at the risk of numbers of guns that could be out there if stolen from license holders… I would imagine that a significant proportion of us would own less guns if it were easier to chop and change rifles or replace a broken one… or maybe we’d get more safes… but if the police still enforce good reason in the same way then it gets tricky to justify more guns if you’re not actively using them

So in short we get what we want and the police get less admin and great ACPO stats… fingers crossed there’s another chance

 

[nf-fuse]

Absolutely, poorly communicated unfortunately, and the shooting media and organisations wrote a lot of “this COULD mean…” rather than actual facts - hopefully there will be another opportunity to do this and we’ll see a better system.

The other interesting suggestion was that we be limited on numbers of guns and ammo we could have on our licence by how many guns we have storage for - so if the police signed off on you having a 5 gun safe with an ammo safe for 200 rounds, you would be allowed to have no more than 5 guns and 200 rounds in your possession at any one time… so despite the fact that rifles can now be bought and sold as easily as shotguns, there is a robust prevention mechanism with restricting and reducing the number of guns out there.

I’m told the police look at risk to public safety in part by looking at the risk of numbers of guns that could be out there if stolen from license holders… I would imagine that a significant proportion of us would own less guns if it were easier to chop and change rifles or replace a broken one… or maybe we’d get more safes… but if the police still enforce good reason in the same way then it gets tricky to justify more guns if you’re not actively using them

So in short we get what we want and the police get less admin and great ACPO stats… fingers crossed there’s another chance

There's no chance of serious reform. The problem with all this talk about making licensing simpler is that it would put bureaucrats out of work, which isn't going happen.

It's also much simpler for the powers to be to carry on with the current system, with occasional tightening, as it's the zero risk option.

It's taken how many years to get some movement on moderators. Personally I can't see a sensible system every being brought in.