Fac help!!!

wikedwickedmotox

Well-Known Member
Evening chaps,
Have a little question i need answering, i have a licence fac but it is for land deemed suitable by the police and authrised for me to shoot on,im also under the condition of a mentor.
Now here is the question i have had my licence coming up for 2 years and i want to put in a variation at the same time i want to try and get the conditions removed have a letter from my mentor etc, the other problem is when i send in a covering letter can i say i have been shooting numerous other areas/land with my mentor where it has not been deemed suitable to shoot by the police?But deemed suitable by my mentor?

Yes my mentor is unconditied and has had firearms/stalking for well over 25years!
The reason i havent done this before is i have done almost all my shooting/stalking with my mentor, problem is he is slowing down now and not able to shoot any where near as much if at all.
I have my own stalking shooting i have just taken on as well as the stalking/shooting on my dads farm, i have just taken on 3500 acres and need to sort quite quickly as regards to land authoriastion.
cheers guys Will
 
the simple answer is no to the covering letter only include any areas of ground that are passed for the rifle you use
 
Be careful, if you have failed to comply with the conditions of your FAC then its game over. if your conditions state that your rifle is only to be used on XXX nominated piece of land and you charge in trying to impress, with a letter stating that you have been all over the shop with your rifle then expect to have you licence revoked. simple as that, you should know what your conditions are but ultimatley you should understand them - if its not clear to you then ask your FLO for an explanation.

I get the feeling your not to sure, hence the thread. Find out fast if i where you, if you provide the exact wording of your conditions on your FAC i am sure SD members will interpret it for you.

Hope you have not been upto things you shouldnt!

Skipp
 
FAC conditions

It is very simple and straightforward: you must, by law, adhere to all of the conditions on your FAC. If it says you can use your rifle on such-and-such a piece of land to shot such-and-such a species and you must be in the company of so-and-so then that it what you are authorised to do, and nothing else. If you breach any condition on your FAC then you commit a criminal offence. Even if you were lucky enough not to be prosecuted, deliberately going outside the conditions of your FAC is very likely to be taken as evidence that you are an irresponsible individual, shows a poor attitude to the law, public safety etc, and hence are unfit to hold an FAC. And you can expect a knock on the door from men in pointy hats armed with a warrant.

If you want the conditions altered, you should write to the police explaining that you have been using your rifle for the stated purpose for two years without incident and would they kindly remove the territorial condition or at least add the such-and-such land. Enclose a letter from your friend confirming that he has accompanied you on numerous occasions, seen you handle your rifle safely, shot so many deer or whatever.

-JMS
 
Guys i have talked to basc on this one, my licence oes not mention any mentor condition on it. However after talking to basc they have told me to include all stalking experiance with my mentor.
Thanks for the replies cheers Will
 
Just to re iterate!, there is no basis in fireams law / home office guidance for this so called "Mentoring condition" , all of us are swimming in a legal cesspool of our own making here!, backed up by rubbish representation from our shooting orgs!...... but as you are already treading water, don't mention the mentor is slowing up!
 
Its not slowing up as such just work is in his way and he doesnt have as much time with his shift patterns, shame i do miss the old fella!
 
finnbear is correct the mentor issue now seams to be the norm with police forces demanding you can only use your rifle when you are with your mentor what a load of crap.ask your firearm department to show you where it says you must only shoot with your mentor in the home office regulations.
 
Just to re iterate!, there is no basis in fireams law / home office guidance for this so called "Mentoring condition" , all of us are swimming in a legal cesspool of our own making here!, backed up by rubbish representation from our shooting orgs!...... but as you are already treading water, don't mention the mentor is slowing up!

Nice one fb,

I think some mentors cottoned on to a captive income..

Theres other threads on here offering further certification for stalkers and you can bet your life as theres a buck to be made they will be pushing for it to be introduced/ compulsory alongside Level 1&2
 
Its an akward situation or was should i say, they were pushing me for mentor and trying not to let me have a .243 for deer on our farm! Being green i said yes just to get the licence asap, my freind?mentor was disgusted by this and was going to ring the firearms office him self and said it was a load of old crap!
Hey ho here i go again this time im putting in a variation for 7mm08, fac shotgun,licence condition for closed land removed, licence condition for deer/fox only on cenytre fire rifles, i want it cleared up that i can shoot all ground gaame/vermin specifiaclly the likes of maggies squirrels etc when im in a high seat!
 
Guys i have talked to basc on this one, my licence oes not mention any mentor condition on it. However after talking to basc they have told me to include all stalking experiance with my mentor.
Thanks for the replies cheers Will

Will,

Just to get this straight - are you saying that BASC have advised you to include all stalking experience with your mentor including shooting over land where your FAC is not conditioned to allow you to do so legally?

If that is the case then...............................:eek::eek::eek:
 
Yes they have, as he is deemed a suitable mentor then any land shot by him under his supervision with me is fine! I did check with basc, although i have no mention of my shooting landwise now in my covering letter, i have just asked them to remove all conditions to allow me to further my shooting oppurtuniys!
Wonder what there response is?
 
Yes they have, as he is deemed a suitable mentor then any land shot by him under his supervision with me is fine! I did check with basc,

Then they are muppets and you, (sorry to put it bluntly like this but maybe you need to take this seriously), are a fool for believing them.

The conditions on your FAC apply to you and if it says '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", it does not mean land deemed suitable by Mr X the mentor irrespective of whether he holds an open FAC or not, (assuming of course that your mentor is not the CC :D).

I suggest you give the other posters on this thread some credence and take the advice given, otherwise you could drop yourself in it big time and end up with no FAC let alone an open one.
 
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Orion is spot on, for all you know you may have been shooting on land that is not cleared by the cheif constable for that area, your mentor having an open condition can shoot any uncleared land with the owners permission.
If you mentioned you shot on a piece of land that has not been cleared then you will have breached the conditions of your FAC and you can say goodbye to that and your guns

Ian
 
As stated before, BE CAREFUL!! your digging yourself a huge hole.

On a completly seperate note, your asking for a variation for a section 1 shotgun, 7mm08 and some condition changes so you can legally shoot at magpies / corvids (Any other legal quarry (ANOQ)) when your in your high seat.

Its probably just my simplistic mind at work but i have visions of you sitting in your high seat with your 7mm taking pop shots at corvids in the branches nearby PMSL :-|

If you could post the exact wording of your FAC conditions it would help us give accurate advice.

good luck with the outcome, hope you get what you want from your force, but please bear this in mind : your actions as a Firearms Licence holder effects us all, please make sure your not in breach of your conditions, all we need now is to add fuel to the legislation fire through ignorance.

Skipp
 
why is every new fac holder in a rush to get it open wait the 5 years and you will get it [learn the craft first]
 
why is every new fac holder in a rush to get it open wait the 5 years and you will get it [learn the craft first]

Perhaps because as responsible FAC-holding adults they find the unthinking and arbitrary nature of allegedly 'discretionary' restrictive conditions irksome?

Which 'craft' are you referring to, by the way? I assume it is the craft of using a rifle safely, as that is the only consideration of the police in restricting a certificate. Although if the FAC-holder is not capable of doing that, perhaps they shouldn't have been granted the thing in the first place.
 
I think in your situation you need to get yourself on a DSC level 1 course ASAP.

If you pass then then talk to your FEO about opening up your certificate, it would be very difficult for them to refuse.

The other way would be to submitt to the FEO a big long list of additional ground you have permissions on ,if its not been checked then it will give them something to do, but put it to them that being without an open cert it is hampering your shooting.

You will need to demonstrate your competence (DSC 1) to win them over.

Take note of the prev comments, could be dead easy to loose your cert and will take a lot to get it back.

D
 
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