The UK’s largest shooting organisation, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), has welcomed a decision by the Sovereign Housing Association, one of the major housing associations in England, to revise proposals that would have prohibited association tenants from keeping legally held firearms in police approved storage in their properties.
The revision happened after BASC and Richard Benyon, local MP for Newbury, objected to the proposals and worked with the SHA to develop a fairer and better policy. The new policy allows tenants to keep firearms in secure storage and will not discriminate against those who participate in a legitimate sport.
The SHA has nearly 35,000 homes across some 60 local authority areas in the south and south west of England. Given the size of association, the proposals would have been disproportionate and the disadvantages pronounced. Tenants would have been unable to store firearms in their home, forcing those on low incomes to store firearms elsewhere at a cost they could ill afford.
BASC’s director of firearms, Bill Harriman said: “We are delighted that the Sovereign Housing Association has revised its policy to permit the possession of lawfully owned firearms by its tenants. BASC believes that the new policy is both fair and proportionate; it will meet the needs of both parties and BASC is pleased to have played a part in bringing it about.”