Licencing issue

A pal of mine applied for a new Shotgun Certificate a month ago and has just had a letter back from our local (Glos) Firearms team saying that at present they are NOT processing new applications !

Are other counties doing the same thing and is this legal ?

I guess I should take it up with BASC.

Unfortunately my SC is in for renewal at the moment -  so I dont want to rock the boat with Glos Firearms  just now....maybe when I have my new certificate.

Any pointers gratefully received.

I think a lot are just trying to catch up on the backlog of renewals due to the lock down, West Mercia are just starting to issue Grants again as of August.

Picked a shotgun up from Somerset area September and was told they too hadn't started issuing Grants as yet

Same in a lot of counties I think, I believe Lincolnshire aren't doing new grants at the minute.

Northamptonshire police are having a heck of a time just trying to catch up on renewals. 
Grants were suspended during the first lockdown, and being short staffed for most of the year they’re really up against it.

They’ve  had to put special provisions in place to keep current SGC holders legal.

My application went in 13 months ago and to be honest given current and emerging situation I wouldn’t be surprised if I have another 6+ months to sit it out yet

I had my renewal notice come through from Kent Police, got the new photo, letter from Doc etc, sent it off (it runs out mid Nov) and I’ve had a letter back from them stating it could be a while until they get back to me and that they were extending my licence until next April and to carry that letter with me, they haven’t cashed the cheque either! 

Thank god things are so different down here! Here you do not get a license for the gun all you need is a membership of the FFBT signed and stamped by your doctor and you can buy as many shotguns as you want. I really do not know how the police if for example you are someone who should not have a gun eg previous criminal activity but since the ownership papers go back to the firearms dept at prefecture they probably run the checks. 

This was posted on Pigeon Watch by the BASC rep on 30th September -

" Following lockdowns in March, most police forces were unable to accept first-time grant applications and variations due to the impact of COVID-19 on officer and staff functions. However, most police forces continued to process renewals, albeit with time delays in many cases. 

BASC works with firearms licensing departments to ensure their service is effective and efficient. As COVID-19 restrictions have eased, BASC has been urging police forces to resume all firearms licensing services as soon as possible to reduce the backlogs that have been building up since March. We do not want to see anyone with an interest in shooting disadvantaged.

However, we are aware of eight out of 43 constabulary areas that are not processing applications for the grant of a shotgun or firearm certificate, nor are they processing applications for the variation of a certificate.

If you have been disadvantaged by a licensing department not processing an application for a grant or variation please email me at [email protected] with a short summary of your experience. We will use this to ensure that departments provide a better service.

The police forces currently not processing applications for grants or variations are:

South Wales Police

Avon & Somerset

Gloucestershire

Northamptonshire

Northumbria 

Nottinghamshire

Staffordshire

West Midlands "

its simply not good enough ,  all this technology etc ,   its faster with a bic biro pen        

Thanks for all the replies -  it seems my mate will have to wait.

Assuming I get my certificate back in time (mid December);  Glos have assured me that that is the case, I will chase them up for him.

Update on mine, I had a phone call from Kent Police stating that as they’d been out less than a year ago as we had moved and I had all the documentation etc then a quick chat over the phone to confirm everything and now waiting for my licence to come through. 

Lloyd said:

Northamptonshire police are having a heck of a time just trying to catch up on renewals. 
Grants were suspended during the first lockdown, and being short staffed for most of the year they’re really up against it.

They’ve  had to put special provisions in place to keep current SGC holders legal.

My application went in 13 months ago and to be honest given current and emerging situation I wouldn’t be surprised if I have another 6+ months to sit it out yet

Click to expand...

Recently, a Northampton friend had a certificate that was waiting "to be signed" by the right person for over a year. Granted, printed, but not signed. It took a letter to the chief constable and then surprise! everything was hand delivered with a personal apology. Staff issues rather than process issues. So do try the same approach.

@ehb102 

Interesting. Thank you. I did write to the Licencing manager but got no reply 

West Mercia did a variation to my Firearms (.223 to .243) in under 2 weeks to be fair to them.

Lloyd said:

@ehb102 

Interesting. Thank you. I did write to the Licencing manager but got no reply 

Click to expand...

Are you a BASC or CPSA member Lloyd ?  If you are it’s time to make them earn their membership fees . Even with a lockdown/suspension 13 months is an unacceptable length of time .  Sure, I can see them putting an  “as from this date “ announcement in place if  lockdown , distancing , and face to face worrries  started to affect their operations  , however  if you applied in September last year they had six months before the first lockdown to progress your application . That is more than enough time to verify , assess , and decide. 

Sometimes  a word in the right ear from the right person might yield an individual result , and your organisation might have the back channel to do it . 

MartynB said:

Are you a BASC or CPSA member Lloyd ?  If you are it’s time to make them earn their membership fees . Even with a lockdown/suspension 13 months is an unacceptable length of time .  Sure, I can see them putting an  “as from this date “ announcement in place if  lockdown , distancing , and face to face worrries  started to affect their operations  , however  if you applied in September last year they had six months before the first lockdown to progress your application . That is more than enough time to verify , assess , and decide. 

Sometimes  a word in the right ear from the right person might yield an individual result , and your organisation might have the back channel to do it . 

Click to expand...

CPSA member. The membership does make mention of assistance with renewals, but not grants. Still, if I don’t ask, the answer is a definite no, so will take your advice and write them an email asking for help.