Mate must be accompanied for a .243 on his firearms certificate!

He applied for a .243 on an open certificate for shooting fox and deer.

The Metropolitan Police have now contacted him and said they are willing to grant him an open certificate for a .243 which he can use to shoot foxes on his own but he must be accompanied to shoot deer.

Could you please give me your comments on this.

FIREARMS CERTIFICATE
David Frost
I have seldom heard such rubbish. The police are required to grant a firearms certificate to anyone who has a good reason and does not pose a threat to public safety or the peace.

The difference in safety terms between a .222 and a .243 is negligible.

If he can use one safely, then he can use the other.

What the Met are proposing is neither in accordance with the Home Office guidelines nor those recommended by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

The issue in law is purely one of safety and has nothing to do with an individual’s skill at stalking or shooting deer, although I assume this is what the Met are trying to impose.

The Met is one of the most inefficient police forces in the country when it comes to certificates.

It employs more people than any other force and I suppose that means they have the time to sit around and impose silly conditions.

Your friend should challenge them to justify their decision.

He should also ask to see the documentation which the FEO must follow in deciding whether to impose such conditions.

The criteria used to establish who is fit to accompany your friend and the criteria that must be met before the condition can be lifted.

He might also enquire how much extra (and unpaid for) cost the imposition of this condition generates.

What is really needed is for someone who has this condition imposed to ignore it and wait to see what happens if the police take him to court.

A decent barrister would make mincemeat of the police decision.