“The long awaited public consultation on proposed changes to firearms law in Northern Ireland took place between 28th June and 20th September 2012. Views were sought on a wide range of proposals including an increase in firearms licencing fees, an age reduction for young shooters, a new banded system for the exchange of firearms, and cutting some of the red tape faced by shooters wishing to visit the province.” (BASC Key Issue)
BASC’s response to the consultation can be found here. Firearms UK, as with BASC are strongly opposed to an increase in firearms licencing fee’s as such we are delighted that an update, published by BASC yesterday highlights that potential fee increases for Northern Ireland licence holders have now been rejected by the Justice Committee.
This update is particular significant since the Association of Chief Police Officers have now published their proposals for significantly raising the licensing fee for firearm and shotgun holders in England, Scotland and Wales. Firearms UK have already been in contact with the ACPO; We have submitted our own recommendations to address the needs for greater efficiency and have outlined our opposition to both the raising of fees and of “full cost recovery”. We encourage you all to follow our Facebook page, where you can discuss the issue of license fees and more.
