Government’s justification for firearms fees increase ‘bogus’, says BASC

Updated 14 February 2025

BASC has labelled the government’s justification for an increase in firearms licensing fees as bogus and warned that inefficient licensing puts guns in the hands of the wrong people.

We wrote to all Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables in England and Wales, who are responsible for setting police budgets, to ask for assurances that funds raised will be used to resource their firearms licensing departments.

To date, only 16 out of 42 constabularies have responded to BASC’s correspondence on the matter. Of these, nine have committed to the funding being ‘ring-fenced’, with two confirming funding allocation with caveats. For the remaining four forces that have responded, we await decisions following meetings with Chief Constables. 

The police forces who committed that all, or at least some, of the funds would go towards improving firearms licensing are: Cheshire, Derbyshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Thames Valley Police and West Mercia. 

The four forces from whom we await the Chief Constable’s decision are: Dyfed-Powys, Lincolnshire, Northumbria and North Wales.

Christopher Graffius, BASC’s executive director of communications and public affairs, said: “The government’s justification for the increase is that the extra funds raised will go to support the work of firearms licensing departments, although it has no powers to ensure this happens.

“If they cannot guarantee that the money from fee increases will improve the system, then the government’s reasoning for a 133 per cent hike in firearms fees is bogus. People will be paying more for a service that continues to be inefficient.

“Inefficient licensing puts guns in the hands of the wrong people, it puts public safety at risk.”

BASC previously condemned the government’s decision to increase firearms licensing fees by an average of 133 per cent without fixing the inefficiencies undermining the current system.

The association expressed its concerns to the Home Office in a meeting last month with the Policing Minister, Dame Diana Johnson MP, and is engaging with senior Labour Party representatives and rural MPs. We are also asking the shooting community to contact their own MPs to raise the issue; read more here.

If you are happy to share your experiences of firearms licensing in your area, please complete our short online survey here. All information will be kept confidential and only used anonymously.