What you need to know about the Firearms Act 2023
The Firearms Act 2023 received Royal Assent in September 2023, confirming it as new legislation.
BASC medical panels
BASC’s medical panel provides a dedicated service to ensure a speedy resolution to members who are being let down and delayed by unhelpful GPs during the firearms licensing process.
The service links applicants with medical professionals to help secure medical verification. It also assists applicants who are either unhappy with being charged exorbitant fees by their own GP or those facing delays because their GP is refusing to take part in the process.
Background
The new statutory guidance published by the government on 20 October 2021 made medical verification for all certificate applicants mandatory.
Issued by the applicant’s GP, costs for these forms have been reported to vary drastically between postcodes. The highest fee we have been aware of is £360 for medical verification.
In extreme cases, GPs have refused to provide the verification. Some fear that blame would fall on them if an incident occurred; others claim a conscientious objection to the private ownership of firearms.
This leaves certificate holders in a catch-22 position; the applicant or certificate holder can’t get verification and the police will not progress the application without it.
The process
BASC’s end game is to find a political solution to this situation. The most obvious one is for GP contracts to be changed, requiring doctors to supply medical verification.
However, with statutory responsibility on doctors currently not in place, we have created a solution for BASC members.
We have identified individual BASC members who are doctors who in turn form medical panels to provide efficient and effective scrutiny and verification of an applicant’s medical history.
If you are a BASC member and are experiencing a problem obtaining medical verification, or your GP demands an exorbitant fee, we can help you.
We can provide a list of medical experts in your region who will be able to deal with the medical verification promptly and with a reasonable fee.
Once you have chosen a medical expert from the regional list provided, you contact them and let them know that are a BASC member and need some assistance.
You will also need to apply for a full set of your medical records from your GP to be sent to the medical expert, by email or post.
You must stress that a summary sheet will not suffice and that the full set of records must be sent. There should be no charge to the member for the records being sent out.
The cost
The cost is in the region of £75. Some of the panel do charge a little more than this if it is not a straightforward case but members will be made aware of the price at the earliest opportunity.
To take advantage of this process you can either call us on 01244 573 000, during office hours, or fill in the form below and a member of your local regional team will be in touch.
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