BASC welcomes single licensing authority but rejects Section 2 recommendation

BASC has long called for firearms licensing to be removed from the current 43-force structure and delivered through a dedicated national authority with common standards, clear accountability and appropriate resources. The association’s director of firearms, Bill Harriman, said the consolidation would be a major step forward in improving a system that remains deeply inconsistent in its delivery.

That inconsistency was laid bare last year in a major BASC report on the performance of police firearms licensing departments, which found significant variation across England and Wales, with some forces delivering a timely, proportionate service and others leaving certificate holders waiting for their certificates for over a year.

Mr Harriman said:

“We welcome this report’s conclusion that firearms licensing cannot continue to be delivered through 43 separate police forces, each interpreting the same guidance differently, each resourced differently and each producing wildly different outcomes for applicants and certificate holders.

“HMICFRS’s backing for a single authority carries real weight and echoes BASC’s own detailed work on this. This report should settle any remaining argument about the direction of travel of firearms licensing in England and Wales. But we are realistic. This will take years to deliver and will only succeed if the new authority is properly resourced and staffed with well-trained, specialist personnel from day one.”