ENHANCED BACKGROUND CHECKS ON FIREARM AND SHOTGUN CERTIFICATE HOLDERS
LNL’s firearms law specialist Laura Saunsbury offers an opinion on a new police initiative. Five police forces in England and Wales, including the Metropolitan Police, are currently testing a new questionnaire as part of every application for grant or renewal of a firearm or shotgun certificate. The form is used to ask probing questions of the applicant’s partner which are designed to identify whether domestic abuse or at least domestic turmoil is occurring in their relationship, which would almost certainly lead to a decision that the applicant cannot safely have possession of firearms.
The initiative, known as Project Titanium, was announced earlier this week in a BBC news article (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm5rljxy3p5o ), which makes it clear that while this new questionnaire is not currently a legal requirement or part of the application process if the applicant declines to provide the police with their partner’s contact details, this may well result in their application being automatically refused. It seems likely that after this trial period, the Home Office plans to roll out the questionnaire nationally amongst all police forces in England and Wales in the near future.
The objective may be laudable, i.e., ensuring that only those who are suitable and not a danger to public safety are authorised to possess firearms. However, the law-abiding shooting community will be concerned that the announcement of this new questionnaire contains no mention or reassurance that the information gathered from partners of certificate holders or applicants will be carefully assessed as to its accuracy and reliability. Nor is there any indication that the applicant will even be informed of their partner’s answers to these questionnaires, let alone given a right of reply or rebuttal.
The inference, therefore, is that any answers to these questionnaires will simply be accepted at face value as probably being true on the balance of probabilities, and without further investigation. Certificate holders have learned to live with the risk of their certificates being jeopardised by false and malicious complaints, but there will be concern amongst shooters that this questionnaire is effectively now an open and explicit invitation to any disgruntled spouse who wants to be spiteful and interfere with their partner’s lawful shooting activities.
If you are experiencing difficulties with your firearm or shotgun certificate renewal or application, contact Laura Saunsbury or Gary Smith in our specialist firearms law team.