Policing and Crime Bill - our brief

Firearms law is unnecessarily complex and even those who deal with it every day often struggle to understand aspects of it. There is a general recognition that the law is in need of clarification and codification to improve understanding of the law, hence the Law Commission's recent report on Firearms Law and the resulting Policing and Crime Bill.

We have welcomed this necessary Bill but will now be pushing the Government for further improvements which will reduce the burden of administration upon both shooters and the police without any risk to public safety.

These changes are more than reasonable and were agreed by shooting associations and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Firearms and Explosives Licensing Working Group (ACPO FELWG) back in 2009. The current Bill presents a golden opportunity to bring further clarity to firearms law.

There are three additional areas which the Countryside Alliance believes should be addressed in this Bill:

• Clarify the definition of 'occupier' in regards to lending firearms to those who do not hold a licence
• Continuation of a certificate whilst a decision on renewal is being completed
• Move expanding ammunition back to Section 1 of the Firearms Act 1968

We believe these changes are of real benefit to you, our members, and we will be working hard to see that they are considered.

Click here for our BACKGROUND NOTE ON POLICING AND CRIME BILL 2R, March 2016