Farmers, gamekeepers and recreational shooters have reacted with a mixture of anger and confusion to the decision by Natural England to withdraw the general licences for England with just two days notice at the height of the lambing and nesting seasons. The decision follows a legal challenge by the campaign…
BASC
Dumped pheasant video provokes strong reaction from shooting organisations
The video was allegedly taken in November 2018 at Cotesbach Game farm in Leicestershire. Although it was found that the birds had been breasted, shooting organisations have united to condemn the activity shown. Liam Bell, Chairman of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation said, “The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation is deeply dismayed by…
How long will it take you to get your shotgun and firearms certificates?
As in our last report, the City of London offers the shortest waiting times for receiving a new (or renewal of a shotgun certificate). Apply there and you can expect results in nine days, although previously it took five and three days respectively. The tables below were created by the…
Government told of shooting’s unique benefits to health
With potential rises in licence costs, GP fees and long waiting times for certificate renewals, shooters could be forgiven for thinking that their sport attracts little support from the Government. However, good news could be on the horizon, as a result of the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport select committee…
Saving the curlew
Multiple campaigns are under way to help reverse the decline of the curlew, led by shooting and conservation organisations. There are only around 300 pairs of breeding curlew left south of Birmingham and, at the current rate of loss, they are expected to disappear from the region in the next…
Police boss wants to increase firearms and shotgun certificate fees
In another blow to the shooting community, a senior police official has called on the Government to increase the fees charged to applicants for firearms and shotgun certificates. David Jamieson, Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for West Midlands Police, said he wants to make sure that forces are not “subsidising…
Government ‘betrayal’ on GP fees for new licences
Proposals to make every gun owner pay a fee to their GP when applying for a shotgun or firearm certificate have been declared as a betrayal by Government. Following a recent meeting with Nick Hurd, the minister responsible for firearm licensing, BASC understands the government plans to abandon the system…
English shock collar ban being considered
A consultation has been launched in to a possible ban on the sale and use of electric dog training collars in England. This follows Scotland’s commitment to ban the use of the devices last month. Their use has been prohibited in Wales since 2010. The Kennel Club pre-empted the official…
Shooters oppose unjust airgun law
Further restrictions on airgun use in England and Wales would be “disproportionate” and “bad law”. That is the firm response from shooting groups as the Home Office draws its review of airgun licensing to a close. The review was launched to consider whether existing legislation is sufficient to prevent children…
Game sales are sky-rocketing
The popularity of game meat is rocketing, with sales in the UK rising by 8.6 per cent in the last year and some Scottish game dealers reporting a five-fold increase in demand for grouse. A new report by independent market researcher Mintel says that general UK sales now stand at…
Scotland bans electric dog training collars
Electric dog training collars are to be banned in Scotland, after the Scottish Government made a U-turn on its previous decision not to prohibit their use. Scottish environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham has dropped plans announced last year to introduce regulation to ensure that collars could only be used under the…
Shooters can help deliver new environmental plan
Shooters and farmers have a big part to play in delivering the Government’s new 25 Year Environmental Plan, say rural groups. The plan for a “cleaner, greener Britain” was launched by Prime Minister Theresa May earlier this month and includes the creation of the previously announced Northern Forest, along with…
Fury as councillors end shooting on Ilkley Moor
Bradford Council’s Labour Group has refused to renew the grouse shooting lease on Ilkley Moor in a move shooting groups claimed was made to appease the animal rights lobby. Bradford Labour has majority on the council and a decision to renew the lease rested in its hands. The lease had…
Are police forces making life more difficult for shotgun licence applicants?
We either stand together or get picked off one-by-one. The relevance of this for shooters was highlighted by P. Cree writing recently, detailing how he had told fellow shoot members that BASC advised that nobody should pay “illegal” medical fees, only for three members to admit that they had indeed…
BASC confronts West Sussex council over snare ban
BASC has criticised West Sussex County Council’s decision to introduce a snaring ban without holding a consultation first and accused it of breaching the Regulators’ Code. The council introduced a prohibition on the use of snares by tenants on all of its land following the tabling of a motion by…
New maps help crack down on bird crime
New interactive maps have been hailed as a valuable tool in the fight against raptor persecution. The maps detail incidents involving the shooting, poisoning and trapping of birds of prey, and the destruction of their nests in England and Wales. They were developed by the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group…
How to get a firearm certficate
Advice on how to get your firearm certificate with information on what police are looking for, what counts as good reason to own a firearm and what variations are
This is why you’ll probably get your shotgun licence faster in future
New application forms for shotgun certificates and firearms licences will ask whether an applicant has ever been diagnosed or treated for a relevant medical condition, removing ambiguity around the current wording. The changes will apply in England, Scotland and Wales and come into effect on 31 December 2017, though old…
Don’t throw away money by handing in antique guns, says expert
BASC is asking shooters to check for “cash in the attic” in the form of unwanted guns, rather than handing them in. The call comes following the current national firearms surrender campaign, which is running from 13 to 26 November, during which people can hand over firearms and ammunition at…
Licensing airguns is not the answer, says BASC firearms officer
Early reports on licensing airguns in Scotland appear to show a lack of compliance — generally from an absence of knowledge rather than criminal intent. A law came into force on 1 January in Scotland making it an offence to possess an airgun without a specific certificate or a temporary exemption…