firearms enquirer officers decisions

[markbivvy]

how many people on here (who have a fac) except what there feo,s tell them without question.please.

[Hunter]

Me :unsure:

 

You will never get what you want otherwise. Best to be reasonable, So that when you do want a new toy, they will be happier to help work something out

General crossing anyone from the police force wont get you anywhere

[markbivvy]

You will never get what you want otherwise if you believe that then god help you.

 

General crossing anyone from the police force wont get you anywhere

 

who said you had to cross em.

[MC]

My FEO is great, he doesn't agree with the whole gun law thing so as long as you have the reason and the storage capabilities he will grant you almost anything.

 

I have never once had to cross him or explain in any great detail why I want what I want. Admittedly all of my rifles are for target shooting and I am a member of 3 clubs so the reason thing isn't a problem.

[dunganick]

i beg to differ

 

if i had taken everything the police had said at face value i would have had my guns taken away from me.

 

They dont all know what they are talking about, admitadly you dont want to play the part of the smart **** who thinks they know it all , as this is more likely to set you backwards rather than forwards. However if you let them walk all over you, you wont get very far either.

 

Push for what you are legally entitled to and what you can reasonably expect for your experiance/land.

 

I pushed for my open ticket after about 9 months of having an FAC. When the officer arrived he sniggered at the suggestion. When he left he was going to 'put a good word in' and 'hoped i got it'. Sure enough i did get it. But only because i had the relavent reasons for having one and had the experiance and proof of it.

 

I esspecially hate it when i hear firearms officers telling people you you cannot have a certain calibre because its 'too big/ small for a certain quarry' even though your legally entitled to it. Esspecially when they have little practical experiance themselves of what rifles are capable of. Their views have little to do with their job. Simply if your to be trusted and are legally entitled to something they should graunt it, not enforce their opinion of a calibres suitability uppon you.

[Stealth Stalker]

I had a strange scenario whilst walking round one of my permissions with 2 (yes 2) fao's I was wanting it cleared for .22 rimfire. It was like a good cop, bad cop scene out of the bill.

 

One thought that it would be ok the other didn't, I just let them argue it out between them unfortunatly bad cop won. And they only cleared it for FAC air & 17HMR

 

SS

[sutty]

My local " RFD" applied for a renewal to his FAC,

the FLO insisted he supply them with two permissions in writing before they would re- issue it as they had to be sure the land was safe?

He refused point blank (no pun intended) and explained that he did not have land in any particular area but wanted to BUY stalking days on an as/when basis? and because of his buisiness he was regularly invited out to simlar days on spec

He also explained that the HO guidlines were just that, guidelines, and that the next person they would be speaking to would be his solicitor.

The renewal was hand delivered that afternoon.

 

IMHO, FLO,s will try to ******** you if they can,

(i think they have to be seen to be at least trying to keep a lid on gun ownership)

dont be put off by refusals or silly restrictions they may wish to place on your ticket, if your not happy challenge it.

And if your still unhappy with the outcome join one of the shooting bodies and let their legal dept have a go.

As yet i have had no problem but wouldn,t take an flo,s word as gospel and wouldn,t hesitate to SPIT the dummy out if i had to lol. :unsure:

 

cheers Sutty

[trakker01]

i think the f.a.o's are indeed just doing there job, but home office regs they have to seem strict & try talk sence to one or two novices who apply for arms ,that lets face it are not always required !!

 

(multishot 12g,6+ for ,10-20 acre !!!)

 

all tools of the job are needed for certain cicumstances, some are a little ott.. (.308 )

 

firts time around i found our local fao ,ok ..down to earth & just the sensible guy you would expect, as time & experience comes...variations are more easier, as the fao knows your ok, or other wise..

 

i had a 6 mth provisional, then a 12 mth..

now a few years later , i have a tool for every job!! but there again i got 1500 acre +

[Dave-G]

My newest one is a trainee - He insisted that FAC air requires the same size land as .22lr. When I protested and said I'd get the BASC to ring his dept he stated it's a waste of time doing that as they never alow their decisions to be swayed by other parties.

 

He later agreed to double check and phoned that night to tell me to put in for my small permissions to use air on them and that he had been mistaken.

[kip270]

how many people on here (who have a fac) except what there feo,s tell them without question.please.

:( Never, they don't know everything. (ps think you mean accept )

 

Me

 

You will never get what you want otherwise. Best to be reasonable, So that when you do want a new toy , they will be happier to help work something out

General crossing anyone from the police force wont get you anywhere

First mistake, it's not a TOY Have to disagree with you but you have to be firm with what you want, never let them dictate to you what you can have

 

i beg to differ

 

if i had taken everything the police had said at face value i would have had my guns taken away from me.

 

They dont all know what they are talking about, admitadly you dont want to play the part of the smart **** who thinks they know it all , as this is more likely to set you backwards rather than forwards. However if you let them walk all over you, you wont get very far either.

 

Push for what you are legally entitled to and what you can reasonably expect for your experiance/land.

 

I pushed for my open ticket after about 9 months of having an FAC. When the officer arrived he sniggered at the suggestion. When he left he was going to 'put a good word in' and 'hoped i got it'. Sure enough i did get it. But only because i had the relavent reasons for having one and had the experiance and proof of it.

 

I esspecially hate it when i hear firearms officers telling people you you cannot have a certain calibre because its 'too big/ small for a certain quarry' even though your legally entitled to it. Esspecially when they have little practical experiance themselves of what rifles are capable of. Their views have little to do with their job. Simply if your to be trusted and are legally entitled to something they should graunt it, not enforce their opinion of a calibres suitability uppon you.

Agree with you nick 100% :

 

 

When i first applied for my FAC, while living in wales, i asked for .22rim and .222. The land had already been passed, and i had several years firearms experience with help of my Dad.

The FEO came out to do a land check, and after an hour walking around he was happy, and i got them, and in the year i had my ticket i made a lot of friends who owned FAC's and one who is a lawyer, he told me to make sure i knew the law and never to back down.

 

A year later i put in for a variation for a .243, (i was helping out on a deer park) for Fox & Deer, the FEO came out and was not happy about granting me the .243, so after 10mins explaining why i needed it, and getting nowhere fast, i said "OK, i'll have a .270 instead then please" and he said YES

Then when i moved to Scotland that was a laugh in itself :( (apart from getting my OPEN TICKET)

So i already have my FAC and SG, so three rifles and three shotties moved to Scotland with me(into the new in-laws), in Oct 2004.

Seperated from my ex-wife in 2003, so a year or so later i am in Scotland, then the FEO came out and said "did you and your ex seperate amicably". What planet is he on i thought, what has this got to do with anything. If i was going to go nuts i would of done it when in wales, not move 300 odd miles then think i have a score to settle.

I laughed and just said that's the past and it's forgotten

So everything is OK and they are happy.

Then we move into our own home a few streets from the in-laws and another FEO comes to visit, and say's that .243 will no longer be legal for Deer Stalking :unsure: where do they get there info from. I had booked for my DSC level 1 and he was happy with that.

Looked in my cabinet and said "mmm, you may have to get rid of one fo your rifle's or shotgun's as you have SIX in a FIVE gun cabinet" :( my reply "sorry but as long as they fit in the cabinet i could have ten in there, i am adhering to the rules on my ticket and they are all LOCKED IN A SECURE CABINET"

 

So to sum up, NEVER TAKE WHAT THEY SAY AS THE LAW, BECAUSE THEY ALL DIFFER.

DO YOU HOMEWORK AND GET TO KNOW THE LAW

 

As for land clearence, it means nothing. So you can use X on said land but not Y or Z, then i come along with my OPEN TICKET and have permission to shoot on the same land, and can use X Y and Z.

[Bazooka Joe]

I've had them all, everytime one of my cert's needs renewing it has never being straight forward.

 

Had one once that couldn't even open a single barrelled Biakel 12g, thought it opened like an air rifle, in the end he asked me. Told me he wanted to check all the numbers on the guns, because ( wait for it ) most didn't match up, & were illegal

The same guy told me that in a couple of years time, no one would have a cert, the police were not going to grant them.

 

The last Firearm Cert renewal, about a year ago, I was told of FEO that I couldn't use a Rem 17 for Fox, I couldn't reload for centrefire, there was no such thing as an open cert, & he wouldn't grant me the Deer condition on my ticket, said I had no experience, even when I told him I'd being shooting for 36yr, Deer Stalking included.

My reply was, I'm phoning Police Firearms dept to question his answers/conditions, save your 10p was the reply, they will go on my recomendations.

 

Needless to say, I phoned the Firarms Department, explained what had happened etc, and he was shot down in flames, my cert came through with everything I had asked for.

 

Moral of the story............Don't beleive everything they tell you, check it out, & if your entilted, press the point.

 

BJ