BBC - will new gun licence fees make Britain safer?

[Conor O'Gorman]

Public safety is the mantra for firearms licencing therefore the public pays. Us paying more wont make anybody more safe, nor will it make the police or the process more efficient. Why is it £400 for a fac and £88 for a passport renewal ? (Dont forget we pay the medical fee too)

A good question to ask your MP (just amend £400 to £131). The following article has some context on why the fees hike is wrong.

Will the fees hike improve licensing? - ShootingUK

ShootingUK News - Will the fees hike improve licensing?

www.shootinguk.co.uk

Most of the new fees taking effect from today 5 February 2025 are as follows:

Licence type	Old fee	New fee
Grant of firearm certificate	£88	£198
Renewal of firearm certificate	£62	£131
Grant of shotgun certificate	£79.50	£194
Renewal of shotgun certificate	£49	£126
Coterminous grant of FAC & SGC	£90	£202
Coterminous renewal of FAC & SGC	£65	£155
Grants and renewals for RFDs	£200	£466
Replacement of lost FAC or SGC	£4	£9
Variations (like for likes to remain free)	£20	£47
Group visitors permit	£100	£233
Individual visitors permit	£20	£47

 

[Liveonce]

Many doctors don't charge at all or ask just for a token amount that gets popped into the tea and biscuits fund . The government will of course then want to tax them on it .
I paid a token sum to the doctor and my daughter paid not a penny

lucky you, may be ask your GP to speak to my money grabbing GP, as many doctors are charging some like mine more than the old firearms renewal fees.

Still no reply from my MP.

 

[Rasputin]

No way can this make UK residents safer . However it might stop a few gun owners from voting Labour in ever again ! We are regular talking about " will labour manage a full term? "
The hate some of the Labour party as it is today , we should be locking up about half the cabinet .

Think half is somewhat conservative and would expand it to all of Parliament. Shysters the lot of them.

 

[spanj]

Many doctors don't charge at all or ask just for a token amount that gets popped into the tea and biscuits fund . The government will of course then want to tax them on it .
I paid a token sum to the doctor and my daughter paid not a penny

Thats the lottery, you’re very lucky. Mine wanted £150 cash initially !!!! I didnt pay that

 

[cjm1066]

The old game license was set at a level originally to limit participation of the lower classes.

Firearms licensing is not at that level yet, our apathy might let that happen.

 

[Buchan]

Public safety is the mantra for firearms licencing therefore the public pays. Us paying more wont make anybody more safe, nor will it make the police or the process more efficient. Why is it £400 for a fac and £88 for a passport renewal ? (Dont forget we pay the medical fee too)

No. our hobby, we pay.

 

[timbrayford]

It's no surprise that firearms licensing is expensive to administer. The current S1 controls are overly complicated, paper based and originated to prevent an armed overthrow of the monarchy and establishment in the aftermath of WW1. By way of contrast the more straightforward and more cost effective S2 controls were introduced to combat a sharp rise in armed crime around the time that the death penalty was abolished. However both have scope to be brought into the modern era

 

[MarinePMI]

<cough> 2nd Amendment <cough>

 

[Dickie]

A good reflection of where the extra money will go.

 

[MarinePMI]

A good reflection of where the extra money will go.

Gotta love DEI... smdh...

FWIW, we have an extra 11% tax on anything hunting or fishing related here in the US. But at least that goes back into Department of Fish & Game and National Parks. IIRC, 90% of the budgets for National Parks comes from hunting/fishing license sales and the tax on the gear.

 

[Pedro]

I think if the price of buying illegal guns goes up, that might have an effect. But I don't see the government being able to influence that. Like most government's reactions to issues, they will make new laws or make it harder to legally possess firearms, but the only real way to improve things is by enforcement against illegalities. Which costs money. That's why the great issue of the time, knife violence isn't being capably addressed.

Back in the '70s, one of the great issues of that time was drink driving. A sustained campaign of education by adverts/information films on the telly and sustained rigorous enforcement by the police which solved the problem, something lasting until today. Whilst it used to be a jolly jape to leave work and have a few drinks on the way home, now it's very much not the done thing and frowned upon by the general public.

But the governments of today are incapable of this sort of commitment to resolve any issue, whether it be knife crime, hospital scandals, social services failures, prison chaos and more. All caused by governments not investing enough. Yet when something happens, it's only the person in charge that usually gets the blame, not those who don't give them the resources to do their job properly.

 

[Rthur]

What's that in English, please?

Thrown in the bin the monies wasted on mean tweets.
I'll try to write in smaller/wee words and slower...


R

 

[260madman]

Gotta love DEI... smdh...

FWIW, we have an extra 11% tax on anything hunting or fishing related here in the US. But at least that goes back into Department of Fish & Game and National Parks. IIRC, 90% of the budgets for National Parks comes from hunting/fishing license sales and the tax on the gear.

But are we really sure? Let me call Elon to check into it.

 

[Basil H]

Just as an aside to this discussion, and despite the headlines, knife crime has actually decreased over the last few years.

 

[Rasputin]

Just as an aside to this discussion, and despite the headlines, knife crime has actually decreased over the last few years.

I find that hard to believe.

 

[paulst]

Thrown in the bin the monies wasted on mean tweets.
I'll try to write in smaller/wee words and slower...


R

Sorry, I appreciate this is probably me being obtuse but I don’t understand what this means. I am interested to know so could you rephrase it to help me understand. Thanks.

 

[Pedro]

Just as an aside to this discussion, and despite the headlines, knife crime has actually decreased over the last few years.

Ah, statistics....

 

[Tazz]

Sorry, I appreciate this is probably me being obtuse but I don’t understand what this means. I am interested to know so could you rephrase it to help me understand. Thanks.

I believe he is referring to the amount of police time/money/effort spent policing and subsequently charging individuals for “ Offencive posts” they posted on social media, a high prominence of the action following the murder of the 3 girls at Southport and the subsequent public order offences

 

[paulst]

Thank y

I believe he is referring to the amount of police time/money/effort spent policing and subsequently charging individuals for “ Offencive posts” they posted on social media, a high prominence of the action following the murder of the 3 girls at Southport and the subsequent public order offen

I believe he is referring to the amount of police time/money/effort spent policing and subsequently charging individuals for “ Offencive posts” they posted on social media, a high prominence of the action following the murder of the 3 girls at Southport and the subsequent public order offences

Thank you for explaining this. Much appreciated.

 

[jimmer.13]

No. our hobby, we pay.

I like many others require a firearm for my job.
Why should RFD’s now pay double?
I pay council tax to contribute to keep the public safe.
How about doubling the costs for you to practice as a vet?
My FEO is a perfect example of a round peg in a round hole. Superb at his job firm fair and friendly and knows the job inside out. Ensure all constabulary’s hire people of his calibre then a lot of the current nonsense we endure would evaporate.