David BASC Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 You are spot on, they cannot unreasonably restrict your application. More info on conditions here: http://www.basc.org.uk/en/utilities/document-summary.cfm/docid/3D001190-BA52-43B5-91F72349FD5C6B90 David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDAV Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 On a side note what does a "mentor" do? accompny you on every outing? does it mean you cannot be in sole possession of said calibre withoutout mentor being present? Or is it someone happy to answer your questions and guide you? It seems it may be an over zealous trainee who wants to slap "mentoring" on every application. The scary thing is who certifies the mentor? What is to say the mentor is any good? Do they need mentoring insurance? WHat happens if something goes badly wrong under "mentoring", is the "mentors" certificate at risk? There is as far as i know no QA process for mentoring and to have one will cost ££££££ no doubt another money spinner for APCO and require "registered mentors" who will pass the costs onto the shooter you would be lucking at serious money £50 an hour 3-4 hours a month for 2 years or circa £5k to hold an FAC? I think BASC etc should really be asking serious questions about this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Logic Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 On a side note what does a "mentor" do? accompny you on every outing? does it mean you cannot be in sole possession of said calibre withoutout mentor being present? Or is it someone happy to answer your questions and guide you? It seems it may be an over zealous trainee who wants to slap "mentoring" on every application. The scary thing is who certifies the mentor? What is to say the mentor is any good? Do they need mentoring insurance? WHat happens if something goes badly wrong under "mentoring", is the "mentors" certificate at risk? There is as far as i know no QA process for mentoring and to have one will cost ££££££ no doubt another money spinner for APCO and require "registered mentors" who will pass the costs onto the shooter you would be lucking at serious money £50 an hour 3-4 hours a month for 2 years or circa £5k to hold an FAC? I think BASC etc should really be asking serious questions about this The mentor has to accompany the shooter; cannot fire the rifle otherwise (except sometimes it's for certain quarry - e.g. I was safe to shoot a fox with a 243, but the same rifle against a deer needed a mentor). Nobody's tested what happens to the mentor if something goes wrong. I suspect they're in the poo tbh, but since none of this is in law, no guidelines have been set and no legislation passed, it's all a bit daft anyway!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennie Posted October 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 Ok guys. Update for you all… I was waiting until my FAC arrived to make sure I wasn't jumping the gun (no pun intended). My father was a little bit surprised when I told him of the mentoring condition, to say the least. So he advised me to phone my firearms office in Kidlington – like a few of you did on here. When I explained the situation there they advised me to ask my Dad to write a letter explaining my experience with firearms and shooting in general, plus also agreeing to mentoring me if need be. My father wrote a letter, addressed to the FEO and received a telephone call a few days later from the FEO, saying everything was in order and the FAC was proceeding normally. I wasn't sure if I would still have the mentoring condition, but my father was convinced I wouldn't. Anyway, my FAC arrived last week and sure enough, just as my father had indicated, there was no mentoring condition. Obviously I'm chuffed to bits, but I'm still a little confused as to how they can go from a 2 year mentoring condition to none at all in just over a week. I think the advice I can give to anyone applying for an FAC is to get everything in order before the FEO interview (any experience evidence etc). Also, if you do have any issues with how the interview went, to not get down and give your Firearms Office a polite call and see if they can help out. Also wanted to say again thanks to everyone for all the advice. It certainly helped, especially those who advised me to give the Firearms Dept a call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchieboy Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 It's good to hear that everything worked out well for you in the end Lennie! Good luck for the future and e njoy yourself mate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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