West Mercia and AOLQ!

[flytie]

As my FAC was due for renewal on the 8th of August, and due to my divorce and changes of address, things have not gone quite as smoothly as I would have liked. But today I had my visit from the local FEO (Andy) and very helpful he was too.

The only bugbear to me was that he told me that West Mercia Constabulary want to withdraw the Any Other Lawful Quarry condition on my FAC. I was told it was due to a legal case being pursued in the courts at the moment. Does anyone know of this case?

I suggested to him that conditioning my firearm for AOLQ was much easier than listing every quarry item that I could legally take with my rifles. That it had been introduced to save the Firearms Department work, and that I needed to be able to shoot a magpie/crow/fox with all of my rifles as well as deer, providing of course that there was a safe shot. He wrote, "Not Happy" on the form!

It will be interesting to find out the cause of this.

​Regards, Simon

 

[finnbear270]

Yes, It would be interesting to know what this is based on, lets hope it's nothing like this,

Originally Posted by CWMMAN3738
Let's hope now that people use their heads then & show respect for boar by using suitable calibres or he antis will have a field day if there are injured boar running around because people try shooting them with .22 hornets or .243 OR this,

And let's all wish that the shooting community, those within and without, behave accordingly, & not start blatting small stuff, in the dark,with more than they really needed to roll it over.

(The Unspeakable In Pursuit Of The Uneatable.) " If I can help, I will help!." S.A.C.S. member!
​

 

[CWMMAN3738]

Yes let's hop so or all BASC's hard work may be undone however it may move DEFRA to introduce some legislation for boar in the uk, & about time.
Is it not possible for you to enquire what the case is about without them giving any personal information?
Maybe BASC could comment or enlighten us?

 

[David63]

I will check this out on Monday to see what the issue is
David

 

[Tom270]

I have had a few similar problems as Flytie, do remember to contact the Firearms Dept. any and every time you change your address even if you still own your original home and still store your weapons there. A visit by the feo to another address may not count as notification so give the office a ring. However my force were very helpful and I did get AOLQ.

 

[simon1979]

hi there,
i had ALOQ added to my fac about 8 months ago, west mercia didnt question it.
atb
simon

 

[David63]

Morning.

There should not be a problem, West Mercia were looking, in some cases, to add an addendum to the AOLQ condition, and I believe this was potentially subject to judicial review..

When you get your certificate back, if it does not still have AOLQ on it then get in touch with your shooting organisation and get them on the case.

David

 

[flytie]

hi there,
i had ALOQ added to my fac about 8 months ago, west mercia didnt question it.
atb
simon

Nor did they with mine, it just came back from variation with it on about 9 months ago. It is only on renewal that the issue of it being removed was put forward by the new FEO (Andy) who I had not met before. It was he that told me there was a court case going on about it, perhaps he meant a judicial review, who knows?

I look forward to receiving my renewed FAC to see what is written on it.

​Simon

 

[simon1979]

west mercia do seem to make the rules up as they go along, but they do seem to sort things out in end, but yes its one the BASC would help you with
good luck
simon

 

[flytie]

west mercia do seem to make the rules up as they go along, but they do seem to sort things out in end, but yes its one the BASC would help you with
good luck
simon

I am not with BASC anymore, I joined SAC's some time ago and have never had cause to regret it. They have been most helpful to me, getting me specialist advice when needed and always being most helpful and informative. I have emailed them about this matter and we both await West Mercia's response with interest.

Simon

 

[David63]

As I said before there should not be a problem, it sounds more like a breakdown of communication with this FLO and his licencing manager over the judicial review. There is no case being pursued through the courts.

We have had several calls about this and have spoken to the head of licencing over a week ago, consequently it should all be cleared up by now.

However, if any BASC member gets their licence back from these guys with odd conditions or ALOQ removed please let us know.

David

 

[CWMMAN3738]

Nice to know your on the ball again David, is there anything afoot to give Boar some protection now AOLQ has been rolled out to prevent them being shot at with inadequate calibres?? (sorr not intended to hijack thread)
​

As I said before there should not be a problem, it sounds more like a breakdown of communication with this FLO and his licencing manager over the judicial review. There is no case being pursued through the courts.

We have had several calls about this and have spoken to the head of licencing over a week ago, consequently it should all be cleared up by now.

However, if any BASC member gets their licence back from these guys with odd conditions or ALOQ removed please let us know.

David

 

[David63]

The feedback we are seeing is that the licencing teams are still keeping an eye on calibres / species. So in effect, the answer is yes in most cases we know of.

 

[CWMMAN3738]

So here no push for a legal or humane minimum over & above the guidelines which are now worthless.

The feedback we are seeing is that the licencing teams are still keeping an eye on calibres / species. So in effect, the answer is yes in most cases we know of.

 

[flytie]

And as we all like a happy ending, I am pleased to report that I have recieved my FAC complete with AOLQ

​Simon

 

[David63]

I am very pleased to hear it, as I said a few members had alerted us to what was evidently a breakdown in communication at the licencing team end, and as expected after we had a word it seems to have been cleared up - pleased all is well but if anyone else has problems, let us know.

David