The UK’s largest shooting organisation, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), welcomes the detailed report of a review of the granting of firearms licences to Derrick Bird, who murdered 12 people in Cumbria in June.
The review was undertaken by the chair of the Association of Chief Police Officers’ Firearms and Explosives Licensing Working Group, Adrian Whiting, who is also Assistant Chief Constable of Dorset Police.
The report states that the police, other agencies and the public had no information which should reasonably have led to the revocation of Bird’s certificates and that no immediately obvious changes need to be made either within the Cumbria constabulary or in the law which would have prevented the tragedy.
Bill Harriman, BASC’s director of firearms, said: “The UK’s firearms laws are among the strictest in the world. The licensing process includes home visits by the police, background checks and may also involve medical checks. BASC will work through the details of the report and its recommendations with great care. UK gun owners go through an extremely rigorous licensing process to ensure as far as possible that they pose no risk to public safety and keep their firearms secure. As the Prime Minister said, you cannot legislate for the moment when a switch flicks in someone’s head.”
The two parts of the report can be found here:
http://www.acpo.police.uk/asp/policies/Data/CumbriaReportPart1.pdf
http://www.acpo.police.uk/asp/policies/Data/CumbriaReportPart2.pdf
ENDS