BASC lodges police complaint

BASC has lodged an official complaint with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) following comments made by Merseyside Police around legally-held firearms.

A newspaper carried quotes that the force had: “work ongoing to remove and reduce the amount of lawfully-owned firearms across Merseyside so that they don’t fall into the wrong hands”, and that “the force is prevention driven so we are looking at removing that threat before it emanates”.

BASC stated in its complaint that the comments were both intimidatory and discriminatory towards certificate holders.

Bill Harriman, BASC’s director of firearms, said: “The unevidenced comments undermine the credibility of the Merseyside Police Firearms Licensing Unit by asserting that certificate holders now pose a risk to public safety.

Shooting is a popular pastime, activity and sport, providing thousands of jobs in the UK, and the licensing process is most successful when there is co-operation between the shooting community and police. These comments are incredibly damaging to that relationship and need rectifying.”

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