BASC is calling on the shooting community to help improve firearms licensing forms.
The association is working with the Home Office and the police to simplify the forms and is running a poll on its website to find out which of two new formats being considered users prefer. The poll will run until 30th September 2012.
Licensing forms are the biggest single source of complaints to BASC and its firearms team experts have dealt with more than 500 such complaints in the first six months of this year alone.
The team has been negotiating with the Home Office and the police for six years to improve the forms. Despite reluctance among civil servants and endless delays, BASC has pushed for improvements and welcomes the progress made so far. The result will be heavily revised application forms for granting, varying or renewing certificates.
Mike Eveleigh, BASC’s senior firearms officer, said: “Making the forms easier to understand and complete will not only help people who shoot but it will save the police time in processing. The revised forms will soon go to Government to be given legal status through a ‘statutory instrument’ but we need views from users on the last few finishing touches. We would appreciate it if people could take a look at the two design samples on the BASC website and let us know which they prefer. Your views are important in determining which form is adopted.”
Click here to have your say on the forms.
ENDS