Hampshire shotgun license wait...

Hi New to the forum here and relatively new to shooting. I have recently applied for my shotgun  license in Hampshire and knew there may be a longer wait due to the average for Hampshire being around 4 months for a grant.

However I recently emailed as had been waiting around 6-7 weeks and was told the current wait for a grant is 8 months! is this normal and what can I do about it? I had been told there was an upper limit of 6 months for an application to be processed. just seems crazy it would take so long!

Thanks folks

Sorry to hear of your frustration and welcome by the way.  I am not aware of any upper limit and unfortunately from the numerous horror stories told on here and elsewhere, it seems it is very hit and miss and depends where you live.  There have been renewals (not even first grants) that have taken longer than that.  You could ring and chivvy them up and some would do, others will not - because it is a double edged sword. I hope you do not have to wait too much longer.

madness

You may have read on another thread that we have been waiting since the 1st of July. Had our FEO visit on the 9th of November. FEO says that all is in order,and we should get our certificates. But due to workload it may not be this side of Christmas. We are not in the Hampshire area but it seems its a nationwide waiting game.

   Have you had your visit yet? I dont intend pestering them as I know how they work and if you annoy them you will go to the back of the list.

Hi welcome. To put your mind at ease!! I am in Hants police area, New Forest, I applied for my certificate 0n the 12th December last year and received the cert. on 2nd June. Do not be surprised if your referees tell you that they have heard nothing. The police do not normally contact or visit them unless there is a problem. All their checks are carried via the Police Intelligence system, not criminal records.  Always a good idea to use a current cert holder as all the checks have been done. Make sure you have your cabinet fitted and secure, as once the FEO contacts you, he will want to see where you intend to store your gun, not having it fitted correctly will cause further delay. Once the FEO visited me I had my cert within 10 days. My FEO was very good, ex Army officer very efficient. Take heart,it will arrive and then the fun starts, take time out now to visit gun dealers and get a good idea what you want, most dealer knowing you are about to get a cert. want to secure you business so will take time to let you have a good look. Hants are slow but not the worst by any means, I've heard recent horror stories  re Dorset.

If you are new to the game and in the southern part of the county drop me a mail and you would be welcome to join us on a few shoots and give it a go, have a look at a few guns etc. see what you like. Most of our club members will let you feel the gun and a lot will let you have a shoot. Good luck.

jagster said:

Hi welcome. To put your mind at ease!! I am in Hants police area, New Forest, I applied for my certificate 0n the 12th December last year and received the cert. on 2nd June. Do not be surprised if your referees tell you that they have heard nothing. The police do not normally contact or visit them unless there is a problem. All their checks are carried via the Police Intelligence system, not criminal records.  Always a good idea to use a current cert holder as all the checks have been done. Make sure you have your cabinet fitted and secure, as once the FEO contacts you, he will want to see where you intend to store your gun, not having it fitted correctly will cause further delay. Once the FEO visited me I had my cert within 10 days. My FEO was very good, ex Army officer very efficient. Take heart,it will arrive and then the fun starts, take time out now to visit gun dealers and get a good idea what you want, most dealer knowing you are about to get a cert. want to secure you business so will take time to let you have a good look. Hants are slow but not the worst by any means, I've heard recent horror stories  re Dorset.

If you are new to the game and in the southern part of the county drop me a mail and you would be welcome to join us on a few shoots and give it a go, have a look at a few guns etc. see what you like. Most of our club members will let you feel the gun and a lot will let you have a shoot. Good luck.

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Hi Thanks for the welcome!

That all sounds a bit more promising we are based near Winchester so it is the Winchester office dealing with it. I was prepared and kind of expecting a around 6 months but had also heard of better grant time of 6 weeks, so was probably a bit too optimistic! 

While I wait myself and my partner have found ways to shoot on a semi-regular basis we have joined the local gun club and go to a few local shoots where we can hire a gun. Have also visited my local gunsmith and found a nice wnd hand gun that I have bought and will be on a friends license as well as the gun clubs so I can get used to shooting the same gun every time. 

I've not actually bought and secured my gun safe just yet but have found the police certifiedo ones on amazon for under £100.

The biggest downside at the moment is not being able to go and practice mid week at local shooting centres and if my friend is unable to come along gun hire without a license can be an issue for some places. 

That sounds great -always up for new trying new shoots where are you based? 

Thanks 

Calum 

Brand New said:

You may have read on another thread that we have been waiting since the 1st of July. Had our FEO visit on the 9th of November. FEO says that all is in order,and we should get our certificates. But due to workload it may not be this side of Christmas. We are not in the Hampshire area but it seems its a nationwide waiting game.

   Have you had your visit yet? I dont intend pestering them as I know how they work and if you annoy them you will go to the back of the list.

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Hi 

Just over 4 months sounds okay for your visit. I haven't had my visit yet but I did receive my letter saying that the case had been passed to the local firearms officer and should be hearing from them soon. When I didn't hear anything for over 4 weeks i just sent an email asking how things were coming along and they responded saying the current wait is around 8 months from start to finish.

I simply thanked them and said if there was anything I could do to speed things up like chase up the GP for a response just to let me know. I'm not going to contact them again for another 3 months or so as I don't want to be pushed to the back of the pile.

I am near New Milton but there are a group of us who shoot at different grounds each Sunday morning also some of us older ones, who have time, shoot mid week. Winchester is an ideal base, you have a number of grounds near by, Wallers Ash, Chalky Hill, Three counties, Popham, a little further away is Ower at Romsey and Fareham Gun Club These all shoot Sundays, not every Sunday of course. Pilford and Three Lions shoot Saturdays. Purbeck and Spitfire are 5 days a week. Dont use Spitfire much, nice ground but to expensive. We are shooting some skeet at Popham this Sunday, by the airfield, if you care to come along about 10.00 ask for anybody from Southampton Arms Club. 

For gun cabinets have a look on Gumtree, loads on there. 

"Three Lions shoot Saturdays" ...wrong,they shoot first Sunday of every month

OK, they shoot Sundays, my mistake, just trying to help. 

jagster said:

I am near New Milton but there are a group of us who shoot at different grounds each Sunday morning also some of us older ones, who have time, shoot mid week. Winchester is an ideal base, you have a number of grounds near by, Wallers Ash, Chalky Hill, Three counties, Popham, a little further away is Ower at Romsey and Fareham Gun Club These all shoot Sundays, not every Sunday of course. Pilford and Three Lions shoot Saturdays. Purbeck and Spitfire are 5 days a week. Dont use Spitfire much, nice ground but to expensive. We are shooting some skeet at Popham this Sunday, by the airfield, if you care to come along about 10.00 ask for anybody from Southampton Arms Club. 

For gun cabinets have a look on Gumtree, loads on there. 

Click to expand...

Thanks Jagster we'll do that tomorrow at Popham . I sent you a message also and come to think of it I think we may have spoken at wallers ash last month if you told us about Popham shoot and one of your friends had a 20 gauge that my partner had a shot of at the practice stands? And u were going round the red course at the same time as us? it could be a coincidence but just clicked when u saw that you had a browning 525 and u may have shown me your gun as I was trying out the berretta shorter? 

Cheers 

Calum 

The wait in Hampshire is around the 6 month mark. I applied start of May and received SGC about 3 weeks ago, 7 days after visit. Just so you know, as when I was waiting I just wanted an idea of how long.

How time changes. I got my licence from Hampshire in roughly three weeks a few months ago!

Surrey are not particularly quick.  I have just received mine last Tuesday having first applied at the end of March, just over 6 months.  Really frustrating but I guess they have to be extremely thorough compacted with a lack of staff it is only to be expected.