Northern Ireland

[Donegalcharlie]

just thought it would be good to know if there is many of us here lads.

[Big Al]

Quite a few. I'm near Lisburn.

[Wb123]

I'm in Lisburn.

[ordnance]

Originally from Lisburn.

[toontastic]

I've been to Lisburn

[Maxus Hunter]

I also live in Lisburn

[Donegalcharlie]

Must be a lot of gun shops about Lisburn lads lol

[Big Al]

Lisburn seems to be THE place to be then.

[Maxus Hunter]

Totally the opposite mate no gun shops at all anymore unfortunately ,closest shop to me is in lurgan.

[Wb123]

Lisburn Pub trip then?

[Donegalcharlie]

Do any of uze lads know each other lol

[ordnance]

Lisburn Pub trip then?

You will have a hard job finding a decent pun in lisburn town/city.

[Wb123]

Do any of uze lads know each other lol

I arrived less than two weeks ago. I've met the optician and thats it.

[Big Al]

Nope. It'd s funny old country.

[Donegalcharlie]

should prob look about organising a days shot for all Pw members in Ireland would be a good days craic if any thing!

[Donegalcharlie]

What kind of guns do you boys have? I have a 12g Sbs, 12g semi auto, CZ 455 17Hmr, .22 Air rifle

[Maxus Hunter]

I'd love to meet up with u guys, I only shoot shotguns atm I have a browning maxus bettinsoli xtrail camo and a revo 410 over and under for my kids.

O aye I've a. 22 air rifle aswell

[Wb123]

Only have shotguns here, awaiting my fac before bringing the air rifle over.

[ordnance]

Only have shotguns here, awaiting my fac before bringing the air rifle over.

You need a FAC for shotguns and air rifles in N/I.

[Wb123]

You need a FAC for shotguns and air rifles in N/I.

Im in a special situation as covered by my mainland shotgun certificate until they finish processing my fac. Until then they assure me i have no ammunition limitations as per my gb shotgun cert but cannot have my air rifle unless my previous constabulary will add it to the shotgun certificate which obviously they cant do. The alternative was to request a temporary certificate of approval for the air rifle and moderator but to keep things simple I've left it with my brother.

 

We have now managed to shoot our way through enough cartridges to be within the 2000 limit once our facs arrive. Fortunately prices seem pretty good for cartidges here considering the small numbers people buy them in.

 

So far i have been highly impressed with the psni firearms and explosives lot. They have been a pleasure to deal with, and i was in contact with them a fair bit before coming over.

Edited August 15, 2016 by Wb123

[ordnance]

 

So far i have been highly impressed with the psni firearms and explosives lot. They have been a pleasure to deal with, and i was in contact with them a fair bit before coming over.

Yes they are quite good in my experience, the main problem is as usual waiting time. There is talk of an on-line application that could speed things up.

[Cannon]

I raised a number of potential issues with the BASC regarding the new online system that's due to be implemented. The FEB wanted the costs of grants and variations reviewed due to their costs not being covered. The review and subsequent cost increase was based on the current paperwork system, which is apparently inefficient.

 

After the increase, the FEB then announces that they are launching a new, far more efficient online system. They obviously had this in the pipeline for a while, and opted to keep it quiet during their negotiations with shooting organisations and the DOJ. So where does that leave us shooters? Were any shooters consulted by the police about the new online application system? I certainly wasn't. Why when applying for a grant, regrant or variation does the feb ask for your email address, when they obviously don't seem to use them? Are we due another review of fees as a result of the new, more efficient online licencing system? It obviously costs less than the current system.

 

The feb have an answer for everything, but you'd think their answers were written by politicians rather than a public service organisation. How many people do you know that are computer illiterate? How many farmers and older shooters are going to be able to go online to fill out application forms? How many people don't even have internet access, never mind a computer?

 

All these points seem to be covered under the feb's FAQ section on their website. You can go to a library, you can take computer courses etc. All potentially cost prohibitive for a lot of folk. Lets not forget the potential security implications.

 

Lets hope our shooting organisations can get to the bottom of this. As shooters and paying customers, we deserve answers. All this smoke and mirrors nonsense is getting out of hand. Everybody knows the police want to reduce the amount of firearms in circulation, but having such an agenda (albeit somewhat hidden) is discriminatory against legitimate shooters.

Edited August 16, 2016 by Cannon

[Donegalcharlie]

i wouldn't have even heard of that until you said. Things have to move on to a more faster way of getting applications granted but as you say at what cost I know plenty of old shooters that would not know where to even start with online stuff

[ordnance]

 

Everybody knows the police want to reduce the amount of firearms in circulation, but having such an agenda (albeit somewhat hidden) is discriminatory against legitimate shooters.

True as far as the police are concerned firearms are just a cost and hassle they could do without.

[Cannon]

The original agreement was that applications would be processed within an agreed amount of time, and if the fee increase was approved, there would be accountability within the feb for failure to meet target times and so forth.

 

The FEB have proven that they can process applications extremely quickly using the paper system. There was a point where variations were coming back in less than a week, even before the cover letters were arriving. I look forward to hearing the outcome of the BASC's latest discussions with the FEB and DOJ.