roester

That sounds fantastic, especially as mine took ~5 months. I must question whether it is possible to do all of the checks in that time (I presume most should be a quick computer job), or whether they skip some checks (I presume that they couldn't have done a GP check in that time as that takes writing to the GP and getting and processing a reply)? (and curious as to why mine took so long) So what are you off to spend your money on?

But is the certificate in your hand? From interview and being told that I should get it (subject to checks not turning anything up and I was told that should take 2 weeks) and getting the certificate took ~18 weeks. 3 days does seem very very good, however I am not convinced that they could have done all the checks in that time (although the amount of checking that they do seems to be random).

SGC came this morning, 21 weeks from posting.

The check wasn't anything much for me. A quick look at the doors and windows to check their condition, and they didn't look at anything else in the home at all. I would have said that they are not there to catch you out, however when I popped into my local police station to enquire about the SGC application form (and made it clear this was a first time application), their first question was "how many shotguns do you currently own". My answer was obviously none, however it did feel like they were having a go at catching me out in case I had "acquired" one before applying. (Although there are cases of people inheriting without realising of the need of a license so maybe this was fair). I didn't have a safe when they looked round, so they couldn't check that, however I believe that if you do have one they might give it a quick tug just to check that it actually is connected to the wall. The interview isn't anything to worry about, and not really looking for wrong answers. Just answer truthfully and the best of luck to you.

Also works on google.com from here. Quick search for .22 ammo in shopping brings up lots of results....

Phone call this week suggesting that it should be through in the next 2 to 3 weeks. That would take it up to 22 weeks :(

I am not wishing to cause any offence, however I doubt that this thread is going to achieve anything, or at least nothing that you seem to wish to achieve. I am new to the sport, and I hadn't heard of GMK before. I can't say that the thread has entirely put me off them as a company for the future, so effectively this thread is giving them free advertising ("any press is good press"). Before you call me a fool I will explain. Your thread comes across as an individual rant over a single customer services issue. I have seen lots and lots of places where customer services get a very mixed bag of reviews, so a single person with a single complaint (no matter how expensive or inconvenient to the individual) will not put me off a company. Interestingly the more "ranty" the complaint the less I personally would take it in. If you compare this with the Euroguns thread where everyone was saying that they have had bad experiences, that would put me off going there (if it then didn't close down). However in this thread it seems to just be you ranting to the world. I don't mind putting this back up to the top, and making sure that it is getting more views, however I don't think it is going to be helping your cause at all.

There is a written article here The best quote is the last "Once it becomes a normal thing for kids to use guns, you're moving away from the kind of attitude we've got to guns in this country, and moving more towards the American model that it's OK to use guns.". I don't know where to start with that quote!! (attitude you have not we have, it is OK to use guns, etc etc)

There should be writing imprinted on one of the end caps (just indentations no actual ink). These should have a combination of numbers and letters which should give the spec of the fuse. From there it should be easy to get a new one. (Often the numbers are hard to spot on the metal end caps).

Mine was just SGC, however it was a chat over coffee. Started by going through the form, and the answers I gave, followed by basics like; Why do I want a gun, where will I shoot, what do I know of gun safety. They then asked about gun security, where would I keep the gun, who lives in the property, where did I plan to put the safe etc. They had a quick look at the doors and windows to check that they were all secure. And finally went through what the SGC looks like, and how to use it, as well as how to register shotguns with them. Interestingly they mentioned my dogs were a good plus point as they would act as an alarm I believe that the interview shouldn't be anything to worry about. The wait afterwards is the hard part :(

My cheque was cashed within 3 days, ~4 weeks until call from FAO. However I don't think giving them a call would be a bad idea as long as you are polite. I know that some have said that ringing them will get your application pushed to the bottom of the pile, however if you are polite and not pushy then I doubt it would do that much harm.

Just been told that they have my GP report (at last) and just need one more report, then they will do a write up, then decision on SGC....

Had a phone call from the police, still waiting for GP report, going to be 15 weeks on Friday.

Just passing the 14 weeks mark today for a SGC....

IMHO yes, it does make us look bad. I am new to this group, and also fairly new to shooting with shotguns. At the moment I only shoot clays however I have access to some land, and the idea of shooting to eat isn't a problem for me. It is customary at my work to bring in old magazines to the tea rooms, and I dropped in a couple of copies of shooting times, as well as a couple of other publications. Most of my colleges are not anti, however the average comment about people posing with their kills wasn't very pro the sport to put it mildly. Having a section of videos where you can re-watch your kills I would imagine would push people towards the anti. There is enough debate about "enjoying killing" vs "killing to eat" vs "killing for pest control". To add to that debate as enjoying watching animals getting killed, and I think we are on dodgy ground. However that is just my impression, and I am not at all anti.