Britain’s gun owners are facing an unprecedented crackdown as police forces seize firearms from law-abiding certificate holders. In this article, Charlie Jacoby explores how “gun grabs” began, what’s driving them, and how Fieldsports membership is helping shooters get insured and fight back.
“Hi all - I thought it might be helpful to set up a group for people who have had their guns taken by Devon & Cornwall Firearms Licensing. Any more you know about, please let me know. Adam is the latest - armed police turned up 11am today, mainly because of a speeding ticket.”
That’s the first message on the Devon & Cornwall gun grab WhatsApp group I set up in December 2021. It was three months after we heard of our first gun grab case: deerstalker Andrew Algar in Devon, who had had to surrender his guns and his certificates to armed police. At the time, this was an unthinkable action by the police. Gun certificate holders are, by definition, the most law-abiding people in the country. They are better than the rest of British citizenry. Now firearms seizures are our day to day.
In the wake of the Keyham shooting in Plymouth, the Home Office responded with a series of kneejerk ‘gun licensing guidance’ to constabularies that has left them confused, impoverished, overworked and accused of significant failings. The Home Office has tried to pass the problem of shootings on to the Department of Health, and failed. It has sapped police morale, to the point where most firearms officers at Devon & Cornwall reacted by leaving the force. And, just when it could get no worse, the Chancellor of the Exchequer stepped in and cut funding for the police… but not frontline police officers. So that means firearms licensing has borne the brunt.
Firearms licensing is a failure of government policy that is also a failure of political philosophy. Is gun licencing a public safety matter? No, says the Treasury. It is a luxury activity tax, which is why it hiked certificate fees from £70 to £200, with a further £90+ surcharge for GPs to provide guarantee that their patients will not shoot anyone.
‘Can we just stop issuing certificates?’ asked forces including Gloucestershire. No, pointed out BASC. You are statutorily obliged to provide a firearms licensing service.
Former MP Simon Hart says in his recent political memoir that the Home Office takes the record among government departments for cock-ups, and this is one of them. Thanks to the Home Office’s actions, firearms owners:
- Must remain relentlessly cheerful, as any sign of anxiety means they will lose their certificates
- Must not use the NHS for anything other than injury or illness. That’s why the Gamekeepers’ Welfare Trust sends nurses to man their stands at country shows. The Home Office has forced the GWT to set up an alternative health service.
- Must not witness nor be a victim of crime, nor have an angry ex-partner, nor – in one case – have a bedridden wife dying of cancer whome police deem to be at risk of suddenly finding the energy to climb the ladder into the loft having found the gun safe key and shooting herself. Her last words to her husband before she dies of cancer were an instruction to him to get his guns back from Durham Constabulary.
‘If we are politically opposed to gun ownership, can we systematically remove certificates from as many gun owners as we can?’ ask public servants in forces such as Gwent. Yes, you can. Nothing stopping you. Certificates are handed out and revoked on your whim.
The UK gun grab is also one of the reasons we set up Fieldsports membership. Our WhatsApp group has turned into a membership scheme with 3,000 members, protected by legal cover which will pay for their appeal if a constabulary revoked their certificates. We also have the advantage of a popular weekly TV show on YouTube, where we highlight police failings during guns grabs and certificate revocation.
For those who cannot get shooting insurance, we have a lawyer called Layla who runs our Fieldsports Advice bureau F.A.B which is advising hundreds of certificate holders on what letters to write and to whom in order to get their guns back.
Among successes, Devon & Cornwall returned guns to one gun owner on condition he sign a form promising he won’t speak to Fieldsports Channel (we are flattered but don’t think that will stand up in court if anyone from Devon & Cornwall Constabulary is reading this). And, according to one of our members, Police Scotland visited a certificate holder, saw he had a Fieldsports Channel sticker on the back window of his car and told him, “No point taking your guns off you – you’re insured”.
If you are a gun owner now with anxiety in your NHS history or a run-in with the local police, they will come for your guns. It depends on the constabulary. All praise to Lincolnshire Firearms Licensing for ignoring Home Office guidance and offering the same good quality service they did ten years ago.
In your favour as a gun owner, they won’t revoke if you are either rich or insured. That’s because of the cost of the court case. A gun certificate appeal costs you up to £20,000. The good thing is that it could cost the government £20,000, too – and police forces can’t afford that.
Get insured and, if you would like to fund the work of Fieldsports Channel representing hunting and shooting in the media, get insured as part of your Fieldsports membership.
To see more about the Fieldsports membership please follow this link: https://bit.ly/shafieldsportsmembership
