BASC calls for independent regulatory body for firearms licensing

[Jeff8861]

BASC's proposal is about setting up an independent regulatory body to oversee the firearms licensing function carried out by each police force in England and Wales to ensure that this function is being consistently and effectively carried out – not to replace the firearms licensing function of the police but rather having oversight of that function and holding police forces to account where there are failings.

In our submission we highlighted the following:

• Provide adequate fiscal and human resources for its Firearms Licensing Units (FLUs).
• Employ properly trained, expert staff within those units.
• Abolish non-standard administrative practices which fall outside the Home Office Statutory Guidance, 2021.
• Achieve consistency of administrative practice which conforms to the Home Office document; “Firearms Licensing: Statutory Guidance for Chief Officers of Police.” (2021
• Adopt a risk-assessed and managed licensing regime as opposed to a risk-averse one.
• FLUs should be subject to Service Level Agreements.
• Incorporate proper mechanisms for stakeholder involvement and feedback.
• FLUs must be answerable to a central policy unit (akin to the Forensic Science Regulator). This unit must have statutory powers to compel compliance.
• Firearms Licensing Units must be inspected as part of a force’s PEEL inspection.
• Regional co-operation and eventual amalgamation between FLUs should be strongly promoted.

Click link below to read the full submission

https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/113007/html/

Living in cloud cuckoo land sorry. All forces are having to go through major cost saving again this year. Basc want to spend more of the tax payers hard earned dwindling dosh to look and tender for a new provider. Spend millions changing legislation not a hope. Believe it not there is bigger priorities out there than firearms licensing. Folk can't afford to eat and heat the homes inflation cist living crisis and basc are winging about a few late renewals and grants let's put this into perspective for God's sake. Basc change the record and stop wasting our fees on pie on the sky.

 

[20-250]

( story told to me by her mother)

Must be true, then.

 

[spanj]

Thats hilarious, you want the firearm you pay for the privilege!

You’ve conveniently ignored the facts behind firearms licencing to make a stupid statement. What do I get for my money? Nothing. What do the public get? Safety. Well, regulation actually. So who should pay ? Actually, don’t bother answering

 

[kes]

The 2022 BASC report is here:

https://basc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2022/08/Firearms-licensing-report.pdf

V interesting I thought 'Quartile' was a 'fourth part' not a third part and please dont quote three divides one into four, that's not what it says in BASC's table.
For reference - here -

Understanding Quartiles: Definitions, Calculations, and Examples

Discover what quartiles are in statistics, how to calculate them, and see examples to help you interpret data more effectively. Learn about lower, median, and upper quartiles.

www.investopedia.com

 

[Spix]

Just remember it's GS4 and was the first to demand doctors certs. Apart from that quite good.

Almost.

Lincs FLD is not G4S, it has been back in police hands for some time now, Humberside likewise.

Timely and professional service. A high volume RFD some distance out of county remarked on this when I visited them recently. Praise where praise is due.

Atvb., S.

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

You’ve conveniently ignored the facts behind firearms licencing to make a stupid statement. What do I get for my money? Nothing. What do the public get? Safety. Well, regulation actually. So who should pay ? Actually, don’t bother answering

If the general public actually knew how much they subsidise firearms licensing there would be uproar!

Get in the real world, you want it you pay for it!

 

[jimmy milnes]

Police Service or Police FORCE?

Can't say force anymore.. its not woke enough
Jimmy

 

[Stalker62]

Police Service or Police FORCE?

Ah, the good old, bad old, days...


Long gone are the days, when you could force some unctuous, belligerent toad, into the back of a van - nowadays you have to service some unctuous, belligerent toad, into the back of a van...




and society is much safer because of it...

 

[finnbear270]

 

[SimpleSimon]

On BBC breakfast head of met said he had 800 officer's being looked into.
Spoke to a serving officer who said triple that amount as Cressida Dick tried and could not get rid off due to all the P Correctness with colour there race and gender and religion.. what a total mess


How many shooters behave this way and keep there licence let alone there job with the blue light 10% discount on every thing they buy (meals cars insurance)

There are wrong uns in every walk of life, many people are the worst type of human and are very skilled at hiding it and/or getting away with it. This applies to the "shooting community" as much as to any other group.

The answer to your question is "lots"

 

[Greenmist]

Thats hilarious, you want the firearm you pay for the privilege!

No its fact, set up by parliament, as its for public safety, the majority of the cost is to be covered by the public purse. Look at your average criminal, does the amount of the fine cover the true cost of the conviction, I think not

 

[Ratel]

Almost.

Lincs FLD is not G4S, it has been back in police hands for some time now, Humberside likewise.

Timely and professional service. A high volume RFD some distance out of county remarked on this when I visited them recently. Praise where praise is due.

Atvb., S.

Last time I dealt with them it was G4S, that was when they were on TV saying no Med certificate no FAC.

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

No its fact, set up by parliament, as its for public safety, the majority of the cost is to be covered by the public purse. Look at your average criminal, does the amount of the fine cover the true cost of the conviction, I think not

To be honest i didnt know that, so i’ll have a big chunk of humble pie!

But that still doesn’t change my opinion of you, want it you pay for it, just like anything else in this world!

 

[Greenmist]

To be honest i didnt know that, so i’ll have a big chunk of humble pie!

But that still doesn’t change my opinion of you, want it you pay for it, just like anything else in this world!

I have no issue paying a fair price for a fair service, however that is something a lot of people aren't getting. I even suggested to @Conor O'Gorman that BASC should go to the offices of a firearms dept and observe the works practice to see where improvements could be made

 

[Norfolk Deer Search]

I have no issue paying a fair price for a fair service, however that is something a lot of people aren't getting. I even suggested to @Conor O'Gorman that BASC should go to the offices of a firearms dept and observe the works practice to see where improvements could be made

A lovely thought that it is, it will never happen!

BASC, are nothing in the grand scheme of things they are just an organisation with an opinion like the rest of us, they hold very little political clout if any and the police don’t have to do anything that they suggest or say so really just a pointless exercise.

 

[Greenmist]

BASC, are nothing in the grand scheme of things they are just an organisation with an opinion like the rest of us, they hold very little political clout if any and the police don’t have to do anything that they suggest or say so really just a pointless exercise.

And on that, we are in complete agreement

 

[Dalua]

...you want the firearm you pay for the privilege!

It's not a privilege: it's a right - and any shooter forgetting that is doing the rest of us a gross disservice.
We're not talking about 'licences' here (cf. driving, HGV, pilot) which allow a person to do something otherwise prohibited. There are certificates of fitness to exercise a right in law - an important difference, if you consider the bigger picture here.

If the general public actually knew how much they subsidise firearms licensing there would be uproar!

Get in the real world, you want it you pay for it!

The point being missed here seems to be that shooters are in fact a part of the general public, and our firearms laws are not (as any shooter will have realised) there to help shooters; but rather to help protect the peace and the public.
As such, it's entirely reasonable that the public coughs up for the administration of these particular laws.

To be honest i didnt know that, so i’ll have a big chunk of humble pie!

But that still doesn’t change my opinion of you, want it you pay for it, just like anything else in this world!

No point eating humble pie if you don't learn anything from the experience.

Fair do to you - no-one should expect something for nothing: but the payment we make in assorted taxes as members of the general public should surely be reckoned towards our payment as shooters for the administration of firearms laws, since these are ostensibly for the public good, and very obviously not for our good as shooters.
Suggesting higher cost to be borne by your fellow-shooters to cover underfunding of what's meant to be a public service doesn't sound like a good idea.

 

[Liveonce]

Indeed the last thing that we need is to be able to demonstrate beyond question that we are safe, knowledgeable and competent in shooting and wildlife management. After all it would make it much more difficult for antis and politicians like Starmer , WJ etc to have a bash at us and we wouldn't want that would we?

And that training works well in the the likes of Spain and France, where you often hear of a shooting related accident by hunters.

New figures show number of accidental shootings during hunts last year across Spain - Olive Press News Spain

HUNTING, by nature, is a dangerous sport, especially if you are a rabbit, partridge or a boar. However new figures released by the government show that

www.theolivepress.es

Three people injured over weekend in latest hunting incidents in France

Two men shot and another hit by lead pellets amid fierce debate over issue and resistance to alcohol ban

www.theguardian.com

French hunters who shot British man 'made light of' his death

Two men both went on trial on Thursday in the nearby town of Cahors, charged with involuntary manslaughter. If convicted, they face up to three years in prison and a fine.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Liveonce]

If the general public actually knew how much they subsidise firearms licensing there would be uproar!

Get in the real world, you want it you pay for it!

You need to look to your history, when the first firearms act became law it was for the benefit of society at large so society contributed to the cost. Personally I would be happy to buy my SGC via the post office again.

Still by your logic the guilty party at a Road Traffic Accident should pay for all the police costs and NHS costs in dealing with the incident, after all if I am not personally involved why should I subsidise their attendance.
Get in the real world, you want a vehicle you pay for it!

 

[8x57]

If the general public actually knew how much they subsidise firearms licensing there would be uproar!

Get in the real world, you want it you pay for it!

It can also be said that if the general public knew just how much they subsidise premises licenses and sporting venues such as football grounds then there would be an outcry. Yes fees are charged for these types of premise and venue license but its a very long way short of anything that could be described as full recovery.