Both Barrels: the state of firearms licensing

Bill Harriman is back with his Both Barrels column, this time focusing Gloucestershire police’s decision to cease processing grants for the foreseeable future.

For the last 25 years, BASC has monitored the individual performance of police Firearms Licensing Units (FLUs). This intel has given us an accurate picture of the state of GB firearms licensing. This can be used as a management tool to develop effective strategies as well as providing precise data when briefing MPs and other decision makers.

Until two years ago, BASC was the only body to do this. You might be forgiven for thinking that the police lead for firearms licensing would want to know what was happening in that portfolio area but apparently not; performance data has only been gathered by the police since 2022. Notice that I use the word “gathered”; it has yet to be published but has been promised for the end of the year. Unsurprisingly, I won’t be holding my breath while I wait.

"Unexpected resourcing issues"

Speaking of performance, Gloucestershire police have just announced that for the foreseeable future, it will not accept grant applications for certificates and those already received may take up to two years to determine.

The reason given for this outrageous decision was the rather lame sounding “unexpected resourcing issues” which is police-speak for “Oops! we should have had a contingency plan in place”.

The Chief Officer has a statutory duty to deal with firearms licensing and, in normal circumstances, BASC would have fired a complaint in that direction. Rather bizarrely, both the chief and his deputy were unavailable. The former is suspended on allegations of gross misconduct whilst the latter retired in the summer amidst a criminal investigation and misconduct allegations.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is there to hold the Chief to account, so it was to him we took our beef. At the same time, we briefed every MP in the force area, particularly our good friend in parliament, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, MP.

He was able to meet the Interim Chief Constable the day after; she explained that the problem was caused by a firearms officer having gone sick and another leaving the force. That’s fair enough, but why not just say so? BASC would have been sympathetic and would have explained the difficulty to our members. Explanation often brings empathy, whereas silence invariably provokes wrath.

Meeting scheduled

There is to be a meeting with Sir Geoffrey, BASC’s Martin Parker and the Assistant Chief Constable. That’s a real achievement given that it was arranged just 48 hours after we found out about the suspension. One awkward question that will be tabled is “Why were there only three firearms officers for 13,000 certificate holders?” Clearly, the Strategic Demand Assessment for the FLU contained no component for resilience; if indeed one was ever drawn up.

BASC also put out an action alert to all members in the area encouraging them to complain to their MPs and the PCC. One has really borne fruit; his MP Matt Bishop has written to the Home Secretary, the Policing Minister and raised the matter in the House of Commons.

If Gloucestershire police had hoped to play this issue down, they are out of luck – it’s gone national now.

Now that things are moving, we need to keep the pressure on. If you live in the Gloucestershire police area, we need your voice. Write to your MP and to the PCC. BASC is happy to blaze the trail, but you need to follow it.