DSC required ?

[f17ant]

Hi Guys

Still waiting for MET to get back to me regarding shotgun & fire arms certificate (6 months currently)

I was told by someone (not my mentor) that MET doesn’t require you to have DSC1 to add deer stalking on your certificate

At the moment I have only applied for .22LR and .243 for club purposes but obviously will have a chat with my officer when I get my home visit and most likely will add in a variation 6 months into me receiving my fire arms certificate

My question is during them 6 months should I bother doing the DSC1 ? Or is my evidence with my mentor more than enough to satisfy the fire arms officer ? Obviously I’m not expert so if anyone says “it’s enough but still do the course” I won’t take offence from it

Thanks in advance guys !

 

[griff]

Your mentor is right, DSC1 is "NOT" a prerequisite for the granting of an FAC, however it would not do any harm to get DSC1. If they insist on DSC1 ask them to put it in writing, its not legal for them to do so, and must be challenged legally not just for you but everyone to come.

 

[Rake Aboot]

What he said above

 

[f17ant]

Thanks guys knew I could get a solid answer from here

 

[DVS1]

Surrey & Sussex have this stipulation of a DSC1 prior to being granted a variation for deer.

I challenged this with the guidance of BASC...which wasn't helpful at all, I then sought legal advice and was told "you can go to court to fight but you'll spend alot of money and lose".

There is no legislation I'm aware of that states you require a DSC1 prior to being granted a rifle for deer. So it'll be interesting to see how you get on mate

 

[f17ant]

Surrey & Sussex have this stipulation of a DSC1 prior to being granted a variation for deer.

I challenged this with the guidance of BASC...which wasn't helpful at all, I then sought legal advice and was told "you can go to court to fight but you'll spend alot of money and lose".

There is no legislation I'm aware of that states you require a DSC1 prior to being granted a rifle for deer. So it'll be interesting to see how you get on mate

I’ll keep everyone posted I’ll have a friendly chat with my fire arms officer when he comes to do the home visit, if he recommends me to do the course, I will.. I rather be on the correct side of them and have no hassle

 

[gixer1]

As said, not a requirement, however - more and more stalking opportunities are asking for a person to have DSC1 and it would be a worthy addition.

 

[f17ant]

As said, not a requirement, however - more and more stalking opportunities are asking for a person to have DSC1 and it would be a worthy addition.

Good to know !

 

[Cogswell & Harrison]

Rightly or otherwise I proposed/volunteered to do the DSC1 + mentoring as part of my variation request. The variation was granted without any fuss or hindrance so one more mentoring session gets me over line then my .243 will be opened for deer & AOLQ.

Does DSC1 help? I believe it does.

 

[J@son]

As far as I can see it's down to the discretion of your regional constabulary's firearms team. Where I live in Gloucestershire, it seems that new applicants are expected to have DSC1 + experience of centrefire rifles before they apply for deer to be added to their tickets. And that seems a reasonable position. I would recommend that anyone who is planning on getting into stalking starts by taking DSC1 - even if it isn't a requirement of their local constabulary. What harm can it do? If you are interested in getting into stalking, it's an interesting thing to do! And the chances are you will learn something worth knowing and meet other likeminded people. I would highly recommend it.

 

[Rake Aboot]

Discretion is the key word here.
What that translates to is making up “rules” to suit themselves that serve no purpose other than to be a hindrance to firearm ownership.

It’s about time that shooting organisations took up the responsibility and challenged this across the board.

 

[timbrayford]

The legal requirement is solely "Good Reason", DSC and stalking bookings or permissions help to establish it but are not mandatory whatever the police like to think.

 

[timbrayford]

Discretion is the key word here.
What that translates to is making up “rules” to suit themselves that serve no purpose other than to be a hindrance to firearm ownership.

It’s about time that shooting organisations took up the responsibility and challenged this across the board.

Or better still individual shooters sometimes need to grow a pair and stand up to bullying by over bearing FLDs

 

[baguio]

It's easy for those who have their FACs to spend other people's money on legal fees. I wonder if they would contribute to your legal costs? £10K-£15K should cover your time in court and will teach you nothing about deer. DSC1 will cost you £400ish or use the FC grant system and it will cost you nothing.
I know which one I consider the better option!

 

[nun_hunter]

Surrey & Sussex have this stipulation of a DSC1 prior to being granted a variation for deer.

I challenged this with the guidance of BASC...which wasn't helpful at all, I then sought legal advice and was told "you can go to court to fight but you'll spend alot of money and lose".

There is no legislation I'm aware of that states you require a DSC1 prior to being granted a rifle for deer. So it'll be interesting to see how you get on mate

As far as I amaware from my experience a decade ago and a friend this year, Surrey and Sussex do t stipulate DSC1 but they do require some evidence of competence and experience which they believe DSC1 can fulfil but so can evidence from a mentor or someone who has been out shooting deer with the applicant.

Where I found it frustrating was I already had a 243 for fox with AOLQ but was told I couldn't shoot deer without proof of experience for gralloching and dealing with deer. This I felt was the police overstepping their remit of public safety. They were happy for me to shoot foxes in the dark with the 243 but not a deer during daylight

 

[DVS1]

As far as I amaware from my experience a decade ago and a friend this year, Surrey and Sussex do t stipulate DSC1 but they do require some evidence of competence and experience which they believe DSC1 can fulfil but so can evidence from a mentor or someone who has been out shooting deer with the applicant.

Where I found it frustrating was I already had a 243 for fox with AOLQ but was told I couldn't shoot deer without proof of experience for gralloching and dealing with deer. This I felt was the police overstepping their remit of public safety. They were happy for me to shoot foxes in the dark with the 243 but not a deer during daylight

Things have changed then mate. The old FEO had given the nod for ok but left prior to my ticket being issued. The new FEO reversed the decision stating the 'expectation' of a DSC1 being completed prior.

Despite having been on stalks with friends etc and having an open FAC with .223 for approx 7-8 years so CF experience. Despite a challenge by BASC, which seemed quite 'soft', they came back with a negative response.

I totally understand the knowledge base for new shooters with regard to safety or species I.D etc but purely on principle it's not legislation so shouldn't be an obstacle as well as I wanted to complete a DSC1 with my own deer rifle.

 

[Cogswell & Harrison]

Things have changed then mate. The old FEO had given the nod for ok but left prior to my ticket being issued. The new FEO reversed the decision stating the 'expectation' of a DSC1 being completed prior.

Despite having been on stalks with friends etc and having an open FAC with .223 for approx 7-8 years so CF experience. Despite a challenge by BASC, which seemed quite 'soft', they came back with a negative response.

I totally understand the knowledge base for new shooters with regard to safety or species I.D etc but purely on principle it's not legislation so shouldn't be an obstacle as well as I wanted to complete a DSC1 with my own deer rifle.

You can, I used my newly acquired .243, which is still temporarily conditioned for range/target shooting at my clubs and also Humberside Shooting Ground. HSG is where I did my DSC1 and I'm a member there also.

 

[DVS1]

You can, I used my newly acquired .243, which is still temporarily conditioned for range/target shooting at my clubs and also Humberside Shooting Ground. HSG is where I did my DSC1 and I'm a member there also.

That would be one way round it mate for sure but in principle is a bunch of hairy smuggled budgies!

 

[Hazlett]

>> I would recommend that anyone who is planning on getting into stalking starts by taking DSC1 - even if it isn't a requirement of their local constabulary. What harm can it do? If you are interested in getting into stalking, it's an interesting thing to do! And the chances are you will learn something worth knowing and meet other likeminded people. I would highly recommend it.

Exactly. Why would anyone not do it anyway?


Over the years there have been many questions asked here that need not have been if they'd done DSC1.

 

[VSS]

I do - slightly cynically - wonder if the recent move towards police forces insisting on DSC1 before granting a deer calibre might be due to some people's "good reason" being a little, shall we say, tenuous? Based more on wishful thinking than actual need? So, by asking applicants to do DSC1 what they're actually asking for a is demonstration of commitment.

If you were a landowning farmer, needing to control deer that were damaging your crops, I can assure you that, subject to the usual provisos re: criminal record etc, getting granted a FAC for a suitable rifle would be as easy as falling off a log, and I doubt there'd be any mention of DSC1.