Firearm and Shotgun Certificate Fees

As a result of work by BSSC, BASC and the GTA, the Home Office have set up a Firearms Fees Working Party to discuss and decide:

Which aspects of Police work should be paid through the fee for a Firearm Certificate and Shotgun Certificate.

Which aspects of Police work should be paid by HMG.

There is an acceptance by the Home office that full cost recovery is not appropriate as is the case at the moment, so the question is where the dividing line should be drawn.

The Working Party will meet quarterly.

There will be no interim fees increase while the Working Party is working.

New Application Forms for Firearms and Shotgun Certificates are expected to be introduced from 1st December 2013 and should make the task of completing simpler.

There is expected to be a trial on the e-Commerce approach to using the internet to apply for Firearm and Shotgun Certificates in the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Wiltshire, Staffordshire and North Yorkshire next year to test the feasibility of online applications which will of necessity involve simplifications to the application process.

A review by HM Inspector of Constabulary into the divergent processes adopted by the UK Police Forces regarding applications for and renewals of Firearm and Shotgun Certificates is expected to take place next year involving a limited number of Police Forces.

(Per NRA web site news dated 14^th Oct 2013)

NRA Range Conducting Officer - Status

NRA RCO qualification lasts for 6 years after last renewal/successful course completion.

If you have a NRA RCO card then please check it to ensure it is still valid. There is only a certain amount of grace period for renewal. Otherwise the full course will have to be completed again.

The relevant NRA web page is here for course details. The RCO renewal form (2013) is here.

Club Shoot 29^th Sept Results

21 members attended the club’s final long range shoot of the season which was not a shoot counting towards trophies. 14 members returned scorecards although not all had a complete 2+20 for the two distances and for some new members it was their first long range shoot. For some others there was a bit of experimentation taking place including one member confirming that the start of cataracts is seriously detrimental to his 1000 yard scores.

Lochboisdale 2013

Murray Cup

The forecast of appalling weather, and a competing event at Diggle, resulted in a very low turnout for the Murray Cup competition. Six members who had stayed overnight in Blair Atholl after the East of Scotland Open were joined by four who had " interesting" journeys on the day. To our surprise there was dead calm when we arrived. By 0930 we had a little gentle breeze for 500. We moved back to 600 and had just a little more breeze, but after that decided not to move to 900 but to shoot 600 again as the forecast was for the wind to triple in strength about noon, and we detectedd the first signs of that. As soon as we had made the decision the sky became blue, the sun shone and the wind disappeared, but we stuck to our guns and were glad we had done so. Halfway through the second shoot at 600 it became very stormy with poor visibility. Considering the forecast we were very lucky indeed. The competition was close with only two Vs separating the top two in TR and three Vs likewise in F/TR.

Club Trophies 2013

East of Scotland 2013

Full Results

Perth West Atholl v Perth Fremantle Results

A significant win for West Atholl by 40 points!

Tullibardine Open 2013 Full Results

Yet another Kenny Macdonald benefit shoot! He dropped one point on Saturday scoring 254 ex 255 and five points on Sunday with 99 at 900 and 96 at 1000 leaving him eleven points and seventeen V's clear of the runner up.

Inverness Open

Full Results.

Club Rifles for Sale

West Atholl Rifle club has an old Target Rifle for sale. Updated 12th August

Home Office Firearms Guide - Published Chapters

The following chapters of the Home Office firearms guide have now been published on the gov.uk website:

• Introduction
• Definition and classification of firearms and ammunition
• Prohibited weapons and ammunition
• Expanding ammunition
• Restrictions on the possession, handling and distribution of firearms and ammunition
• Law on shooting birds and animals
• Museum firearms licences
• Criminal use of firearms
• Proof of firearms
• Northern Ireland

To download these chapters click here. Please note that over the next few months the whole Home Office Guidance will be updated.

Border Barrels under new Ownership

New contact details.

Butts Works 20th July 2012

Kenny MacDonald, Peter Burbridge, John Milner and Mark Guest have been working very hard for several days to re-shape the butt-stop and reinforce the retaining wall.

Mike Barlow wins 2013 Bisley Match Rifle Hopton Agg.

Full Results

Police Scotland

Contact details updated due to the reorganisation of the Scottish Police Service

West Atholl v Cawdor & SRA Crosses Team Match

Results

Pentagonal & Finlux

Full Results

Click any photo above to print full size

Private Member's Bill

A recent event in the House of Commons at the start of the new session was the ballot for Private Members Bill, the annual opportunity for back benchers to propose a piece of legislation close to their hearts. The ballot received some publicity at the time, as it was being mooted as giving the potential to raise the question of a referendum on Europe.

The Daily Telegraph has now started a ballot of its own, giving the public the opportunity to choose their favourite out of six options, one of which is to “Repeal the ban on handguns and re-open shooting clubs”. At the present time this option is the most popular – in fact it has received significantly more votes than the aggregate for the other five.

You can see the latest position, and vote if you wish, by going to:
telegraph Telegraph new law competition vote now web page

Scottish Multi-discipline Shooting Championship 2013

Results

SRA Long Range Open 2013

Full Results

West of Scotland Open 2013

Full Results

NRA - Changes to Safety Procedures and some other rules

Along with the latest edition of the NRA Handbook, a revised version of Bisley Range Safety Regulations has been issued. While some changes are purely administrative or to remove anomalies, there are others that directly affect conduct on the range. This note is an informal explanation of the more important changes. ...

New Flagpole at 500yds

The tall flagpole at 500 yds, which had been out of action for most of last season, was reinstated on 12^th April with the help of Gordon Learmonth and staff of the Home Farm and a large tractor, assisted by James and Des. The job was summed up as “a bit more tricky than it first seemed”. Many thanks to Gordon, and to our new sponsor House of Bruar who generously funded the materials.

Some (but by no means all) of us benefitted from this additional help at the LR shoot 9 days later.

Working on the range, "Spring!" 30th March 2013

Sixteen members turned out on the first fine day of the year to do a great deal of work on the range. The targets are rigged, the buttstop is re-filled, the mantlet has been cleared and the toilet works. Many thanks to those listed below, especially to gangmaster Paul Crosbie, to Richard Scott for fixing target problems and in particular to those members whose commitments allow them to shoot very rarely but who still turned up to work.

Workers: James Bell, Mike Barton, Douglas Keiller, Paul Crosbie, Hugh Inglis, John Potter, Peter Burbridge, Kevin Nangle, Richard Scott, Jackie Maclean, Daoud Rhouma, Paul Sandie, Jim Kettle, John Macdonald and Robert Thomson.

Why do we have shot holes one metre above the centres?

 

UK firearms: Licence applicants may need partners' approval

BBC News Story

WARC web site front page as at end 2012