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Applied for my FAC a couple of weeks ago, couldn't see that there would be any issues as i've held a SGC for over 35 years, plenty of land and two upstanding members of the community as referees. Well the cheque was cashed ASAP then two weeks later I recieve a letter from TVP informing me that one of the referees is "unsuitable" and I need to find another - they even included a new application form with high lighted areas for my new referee to complete. As you can imagine I was on the phone to the Firearms Dept PDQ - the lady on the phone explained that she was "not permitted" to inform me which referee was unsuitable or why. As I was unhappy to accept this she advised that I e mail the dept. and ask a senior officer to reply with who & why - as yet no reply. She also admitted that the FEO had not seen my application so the decision must have been made during the basic checks. So now I am going to have two difficult conversations with my referees. One is a County Council member and the other a local arable/dairy farmer (2500+ acres) where I already shoot pigeons (he already holds SGC & an FAC). I would guess that both will be making enquiries to the Firearms Dept about being deemed unsuitable. Now I do have an option for another referee but I don't think I will be going down that road yet. At the moment I am going to see this through and find out what the problem is. Yes I do have an idea what the problem may be and yes I do have more info. than I've given in this post but it's private and concerns other people so not for this post. It is my believe that the firearms have made an error here - we shall see. Damned if I'll give this up. OXF