The autumn has brought a flurry of new cases for our firearms law specialist Laura Saunsbury, indicating that the Police are continuing to apply increasingly rigorous checks in relation to firearms licensing matters. These new clients include individual certificate holders, registered firearms dealers and military arms suppliers. A common theme throughout is that the period of time it is taking for the Police and/or the Home Office to conduct their reviews and reach a decision seems to be growing ever longer.

Inevitably, after certain high profile tragedies the Police are wary of exposing themselves to further public criticism by allowing any individual to have possession of firearms who might then prove to be mentally unstable or otherwise unsuitable. This is leading increasingly often to individuals certificate holders and even firearms businesses being left in a state of limbo for months while their certificates and authorities are reviewed by the Police or Home Office. In some cases, overly cautious and unjust decisions are being taken which are susceptible to challenge on appeal to the Crown Court.

The growing scale of the problem is such that one of the leading national shooting organisations, the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association, is exploring the possibility of extending its existing insurance for members to include legal expenses cover in the event of certificate revocation or suspension. The CPSA, the national governing body in England for the sport of clay target shooting, is currently conducting a survey of its members to find out if there would be widespread support for a modest increase in the annual membership fee to absorb the cost of the additional insurance premium.

The survey was devised for the CPSA by Laura Saunsbury in her capacity as Honorary Solicitor to the Association. If you are a member of the CPSA and would like to take part in the survey, please click here.