Police urge gun owners to check security after break-ins

Police Scotland has asked every certificate holder to take a fresh look at how their guns are stored, and the prompt is a series of residential break-ins south of the border. The reminder was circulated to members by the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) on Friday (28 August).

The force stresses there is no specific increased threat in Scotland. The English thefts, it says, are simply a timely reminder that legally held guns remain a target for criminals, wherever they are kept.

What are owners being asked to check?

The basics come first: cabinets correctly anchored, locks fully functional, and keys kept somewhere secure and hidden, well away from the safe itself.

Ammunition should be stored in a separate, locked container away from the firearms cabinet, and security systems such as alarms and cameras should be tested to make sure they are actually working.

Keeping the house looking lived in

Much of the advice is about not advertising an empty home. Owners are asked to be discreet when carrying guns to and from the house, and to resist social media posts that make it obvious they are away.

Timer switches on lights, and arrangements to stop post piling up at the door, help a property look occupied. For extended absences, the force suggests lodging guns with a registered firearms dealer (RFD) rather than leaving a full cabinet in an empty house.

The timing is pointed. With the grouse season under way and partridges only days off, many owners are moving guns more often, and gunrooms, vehicles and travel arrangements all get busier from now until February.

What happens next?

The message asks owners to remain vigilant and to report any suspicious activity around their property to Police Scotland on 101, or 999 in an emergency.

The reminder lands in the same week the police inspectorate for England and Wales declared firearms licensing there not fit for purpose, a report that has put the security and oversight of legally held guns firmly back on the political agenda.