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Stress is taken by the authorities as a serious possibility of a lack of sound judgement and an over reaction to heightened emotions, add a gun into the mix and they get all ringtwitchy so off with those guns into "safe hands" at the station.

 

Where they can accumulate rust due to being handled by sweaty hands, and be stored muzzle up with the sound moderator attached to ruin the crown.

Edited by rjimmer
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"Any shooter going to a doctor for general "stress at work" should really be warned about what you are actually saying, how it is recorded by the doctor and how it is reported by the doctor and how you report it on your renewal."

 

Well put Malkiserow.

 

This is my point exactly, so with the prospect of armed response turning up to "check" that all is well if someone goes to their GP and reports stress or some minor stress related issue then that could make a perfectly lay abiding, well balanced SGC or FAC holder think twice and then not go. The problem remains un-diagnosed and untreated and potentially getting worse.

 

I have a huge amount of respect for the police but I wonder what they really mean when they say they are coming round to check, surely they cant find out most info initially from a PNC check. Are they expecting someone to be dressed in camo with a pair of knickers on their head, sat in the loft with a shotgun and a half empty bottle of Wild Turkey?

Edited by Wingman
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I could have not said about the sleeping tablets, but I know it could have been checked and then the situation would be worse, so I did what I thought was the best and was honest.

So, by doing this, it has now caused more problems from reading various replies above and I don't get that - isn't honesty always the best policy??

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I would be really keen to hear what advice BASC and other organizations recommend you take if you feel you are suffering from stress or a similar condition.

 

The right thing to do would be to speak with your doctor and get treatment however most shooters would shy away from such a thing knowing by doing so they jeopardise their licence.

Edited by pg123
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I would be really keen to hear what advice BASC and other organizations recommend you take if you feel you are suffering from stress or a similar condition.

 

The right thing to do would be to speak with your doctor and get treatment however most shooters would shy away from such a thing knowing by doing so they jeopardise their licence.

Thing is, if you're a member of BASC, et al, then they can (and frequently do) apply pressure on the police - for example, to show that their actions are 'necessary and proportionate', through judicial routes if need be.

Not being a member means, in this case, that the OP would have to go through all that process on their own, footing the bill all the way.

 

I'm not claiming that the shooting organisations will do this in all cases. Of course they'll look at each case on it's merits before deciding if they think the actions of the police have a reasonable chance of being challenged and overturned.

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Stress is not an immediate 'ban' issue - stress can take many forms, its a mater of fact and degree. It boils down to what the GP says, now that the medical condition has been declared, should he police whish to go down that path

 

So to sum up, that ball is now in the OP's court to decide what to do next, but perhaps the first thing would be to get confirmation from the police as to what their intended actions are? Perhaps a good way to approach this is to ask if you can have your stuff back, and if they refuse ask them to put in writing why not - that then gives you something to work on

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Stress is not an immediate 'ban' issue - stress can take many forms, its a mater of fact and degree. It boils down to what the GP says, now that the medical condition has been declared, should he police whish to go down that path

 

 

This, it boils my urine this 'stress' card. I'm sure the police have had excellent medical advice but cherry picked the bits that advantage their agenda.

 

Stress is a normal human neurosis, in all time I've worked I've never known someone with an anxiety disorder, or exogenous acute stress to be violent.

 

It's a paradox.

 

Sleeping tablets prescribed because a patient lies in bed awake worrying about something isn't, imo a good reason to target.

 

Hopefully your GP will help you out, my guess is you've been done over by your ex, that's what the police are acting on.

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A mate of mine was going through a divorce and surrendered he's ticket as he was looking for somewhere to live and the divorce was getting messy. He was prescribed sleeping tablets at the time. Fast forward 3 years and he reapplied for he's licence and the fao was asking about the pills he was taking a the time of divorce for "stress" apparently the pills are also prescribed for stress related issues.

He explained that they were sleeping tablets not stress tablets and after a bit of too'ing and fro'ing and a not to eager doctor (anti) he got he's licence. As has been covered in previous threads each force and indeed officers have their own way of dealing and interpreting things.

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Stress a word that didn't exist years ago you could be worked up, pizzed off in a huff, mad, angry etc.The stress word covers a lot of conditions from worried to dangerous a doctor should be able to confirm stress on a scale of say one to ten simplistic I know. Your Doc. should be professional enough to be able to help you with this situation.

Edited by scutt
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Agreed, but the problem is very few people have any idea what what genuine stress is or what effects it can have on an individual's balance of mind. A primary school teacher complaining about being under appreciated and overloaded with box ticking duties might feel emotionally drained and be questioning their career choice but that's not stress, even though loads of them bail for the standard 6 months off with "stress". Severe stress can bring about behavioural and personality changes amounting to mental illness and shouldn't be confused with someone being a bit more moody, impatient or bad tempered.

 

Of course telling the truth is the best policy, but it would have been sufficient to simply mention medication for sleep problems because that is the truth. About 1 in 3 adults suffer from some form of sleep disorder, often associated with work or marriage problems, but from the perspective of the police with their self decreed new primary role as guardians of public safety, anyone diagnosed with stress is a potential danger, either to themself or others.

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A mate of mine got his FAC revoked after the police went through his medical record & found out he had been on Anti Dep 3-4yrs ago, was only on them for a month, but they still revoked his cert.

They do ask if. Have you attended a medical professional in the last 5 years for treatment of depression or any other kind of mental or nervous disorder.

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They do ask if. Have you attended a medical professional in the last 5 years for treatment of depression or any other kind of mental or nervous disorder.

 

You really need to read between the lines before jumping in with highlighted text........
My post was to the OP, letting him know, that not declaring he was on medication what could happen...........which it did in my mates case.
Whether it was 1-2-3-4-5yrs ago is immaterial.
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what's that got to do with the price of fish?

 

 

not a legal requirement is it?

 

 

It's got to do with far more licenced firearms are in the hands of those that are not than those that are. A question how many of those who are not a member of any org are currently in negotiations with the eu over the proposed bans and changes?

The fact is regardless of the association chosen ( as they work together on such things) you are paying to support free loaders as well as weakening the fight to hold and continue to use firearms

 

Your likely not covered from an insurance point of view when those firearms are In use

 

Why should I pay for half a dozen free loaders - because that's about the stats

 

Imagine if all of them joined - how much easier it might be to fight the threats we face so commonly and how much greater are political clout might be

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I'm finding this thread really useful... I will be apply for a shotgun licence grant very soon. I have had some anti-depressants in the past while at University, which I intend to declare and be fully open about.

 

My question is knowing this will be of focus for the firearms department, is it worth me speaking with my GP prior to submitting my application to get a letter to attach in accompaniment with my application in support?

 

Or simply wait for the response back from the firearms department before approaching my GP?

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I understand where the police are coming from, there dammed if they do and dammed if they don't. If they temporarily take someone's guns while they look into an allegation, or depression/stress, divorce etc they get slagged off, however if they don't act and that person goes on to commit a crime look what happens then I.e dunblane, Cumbria etc, what else can they do but err on the side of caution?

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From what I understand, you only have to declare a current illness.

 

I'm finding this thread really useful... I will be apply for a shotgun licence grant very soon. I have had some anti-depressants in the past while at University, which I intend to declare and be fully open about.

 

My question is knowing this will be of focus for the firearms department, is it worth me speaking with my GP prior to submitting my application to get a letter to attach in accompaniment with my application in support?

 

Or simply wait for the response back from the firearms department before approaching my GP?

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I'm finding this thread really useful... I will be apply for a shotgun licence grant very soon. I have had some anti-depressants in the past while at University, which I intend to declare and be fully open about.

 

My question is knowing this will be of focus for the firearms department, is it worth me speaking with my GP prior to submitting my application to get a letter to attach in accompaniment with my application in support?

 

Or simply wait for the response back from the firearms department before approaching my GP?

Like many medical conditions, including depression and stress, there are degrees of severity and doctors have a range of meds they can prescribe. However, the more heavy duty the medication, the more twitchy the police become.

 

The biggest risk factor by far with clinical depression or stress is suicide rather than a Dunblane style shooting spree and whether or not we the public agree, the police consider it their responsibility to protect us from ourselves.

Edited by Westward
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Like many medical conditions, including depression and stress, there are degrees of severity and doctors have a range of meds they can prescribe. However, the more heavy duty the medication, the more twitchy the police become.

 

The biggest risk factor by far with clinical depression or stress is suicide rather than a Dunblane style shooting spree and whether or not we the public agree, the police consider it their responsibility to protect us from ourselves.

 

I completely agree with the approach taken by the police, they have a duty of care to the general public and I am fully supportive of this.

 

However your reply does not answer my question, which is; is there benefit to attaching a GP letter with the initial application or wait to see how the police respond to the application before approaching my GP?

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I completely agree with the approach taken by the police, they have a duty of care to the general public and I am fully supportive of this.

 

However your reply does not answer my question, which is; is there benefit to attaching a GP letter with the initial application or wait to see how the police respond to the application before approaching my GP?

I woud have thought there was little point in doing so as the police will wright to your GP as a matter of routine requesting them to add a marker to your records and confirm you are medically fit to hold a certificate.

This will not be circumvented by enclosing a letter with your application, so my advice is don't bother and let due course prevail.

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