There are none so blind that will not see
.....or those that will not see from the stats that the public ownership of firearms in England and Wales has
1. Remained more or less constant for the last 10 years, with over half a million certificate holders
2. That up to March 2019 there was a three year gradual increase in the number of certificate holders in England and Wales
3. That between March 2019 to 2020 there were just under 27,000 new applications for shotgun and firearms certificates, 97% of which were granted.
4. That the number of revocations of firearms certificates decreased in that same period.
So let's break this down. You state that every FEO is under instruction to reduce civilian gun ownership.
I'll start with the most basic premise. A Firearms Enquiry Officer is not a decision-maker. They do not set policy. They do not have any legal say in what sort of firearms can be owned. Their job is to carry out enquiries and report their findings to their head of department, the Firearms Licensing Manager.
The Firearms Licensing Manager reports directly to the Head Of Firearms Licensing. They must follow clearly laid out force policy, which in turn is determined by the public safety strategy set by the Chief Constable. That strategy can be found in the annual policing plan, which in turn is subject to scrutiny by the National Police Chiefs Council. That Plan must adhere to guidelines in the National College of Policing, basically a database of resources and legal requirements to ensure any strategies or policies are legal and contribute to public confidence. As a back stop, all policing plans and strategies will involve local consultation and legal scrutiny from the Office of the Force Solicitor.
You tell us that there is a drive to reduce civilian ownership. If that is the case how long has this been happening? The stats show that the number of certificates held have remained more or less the same for the last ten years, which in itself kind of shows that if there was such a policy, it's failed.
From 2016 to 2019 there was an annual INCREASE in the number of certificates granted. So not only has your imaginary policy failed, it's actually failed spectacularly.
If Forces were under pressure to reduce ownership, surely they would have refused more that a scant 3% of applications? That 97% of 27,000 represents a massive number of opportunities missed don't you think?!?!?
Revocations of firearms certificates are the next huge chance to reduce ownership, and yet the 43 forces in E&W only revoked 371 certificates between them in a 12 month period! So even if there's an even spread between the 43 forces, each one has only revoked 8.6 certificates each. That's pretty poor performance in terms of your fantasy policy.
