From: "The Isherwood's", [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Following on from Mike Eveleigh's cybershooters posting, regarding the new
Fees Order before Parliament and timed for implementation on the 1st January
2001 ... we should all be able to see what's coming next ... parity on fees
will be followed by parity on category (i.e. no Section 2, all Section 1)
... good reason requirements for each and every shotgun ... personal visits
from a firearms enquiry officer at grant/renewal/variation ... requirement
for certificate holders to be a member of club or syndicate and/or have land
to shoot on ... inspection of land (with the inevitable refusal if, in the
opinion of the officer, the land is "unsuitable") ... territorial limits to
the use of shotguns ... occasional invitations will be treated with
suspicion, in respect of good reason ... casual invitations to shoot will
cause nightmares in respect of certificate conditions (territorial) ...
variation requirement for each change of shotgun ... etc ...etc ... etc ...
a bureaucrats dream ... and eventually, of course, confiscation of all
firearms, including shotguns.
In my own Constabulary (West Mercia) I have become involved in the "Best
Value Review of the Firearms Administration" (an oxymoron if ever I heard
one) and from the figures and information available to me, it would appear
that the current backlog in issuing certificates, is five and a half months
... that's right ... five and a half months !!! When the new rules come in
on January 1st, West Mercia plan to visit each and every FAC AND SGC holder
in the three counties which make up their area ... at grant ... at renewal
... and at "variation". From the figures available to me, that current
five and a half month backlog is predominantly related to visiting six
thousand FAC holders ... now just imagine for a minute ... if six thousand
individuals have created a backlog of five and a half months ... how long
will the backlog be when West Mercia are visiting an extra thirty one
thousand SGC holders ? Answers on the back of a postcard, please !!!
When I suggested that it will probably take something like two and a half
years to get a certificate granted/renewed/varied West Mercia said that they
would obviously have to increase the number of Firearms Enquiry Officers to
compensate ... quite where they expect to get that number of experienced
officers is a mystery to me (and an irrelevance to them, I joke not !!!).
They also didn't think that all these extra visits had a cost implication
... in any case ... "if it did, the Home Office would increase fees to
compensate [them]".
The proposed fee of UKP 40, which has been indicated as the likely figure,
will be insufficient to cover the extra workload and given the Governments
stated objective of "Full Cost Recovery on Firearms Licensing" ... you don't
need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what will happen at the end of
the next financial year end, when the figures are worked out !!! Every
body will moan and groan ... for a while ... but the Home Office will say
just a minute the "new" 50 quid fee is really only a tenner a year and who
could complain about that ? Until the next financial year ... when the
same kind of figures will pop up and again the fees will go up and the next
year the same again ... on and on ad infinitum ... the police have
effectively an open cheque book ... yours and mine !!! The figures will
continue to rise year on year ... and the net result will be that people
will be priced out of owning firearms ... it's as simple as that.
It's even more insidious than that ... think about it for a moment ... how
will any new-comer or young person ever be able to afford to enter the sport
... how many kids do you know who can stump up a hundred quid ... or more
... just for the license to participate ? Mark my words, the five hundred
pound FAC (SGC's will disappear shortly ... now we have parity !!!) is just
around the corner ... just out of sight enough for the Home Office to deny
it exists ... that is until we travel the road just a that little bit
further.
All this will be justified by the "Best Value Reviews" being undertaken in
Constabularies around the Country ... right now. I can hear the Home
Office rolling out the platitudes ... "but we held 'Best Value Reviews' and
we consulted everybody and we do offer best value" ... spherical objects ...
two of 'em !!! Call your local Clerk to the Police Authority (he can be
found at the County Hall) offer your services as a "Stakeholder" on the
review (act quickly they are almost over) and find out the facts for
yourself ... as I have done ... ask the obvious questions ... the fatherless
ones really are out to get you !!!
Very concerned from Worcestershire,
Paul
--
The solution on the fees issue is to lobby against this full cost
recovery nonsense. The Home Office has the cheek to say the
licensing system is a "service" to shooters thus we must pay for
it. Hang on, I thought it was in the interests of public safety.
If it is, then the public should pay for it.
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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