Our Proposals


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A brief summary of our proposed firearms certification system is below. This is based on the proposals in Does the Trigger Pull the Finger? by Richard Law and Peter Brookesmith (Spitfire Press 2011).

More details can be found in the book, which can be purchased by clicking HERE.


The essentials are: Firearms Certificates (FAC's) to be issued by a national, accountable body instead of the police.

A person wishing to take up shooting would first need to apply for a Fit Person Certificate. This would be issued subject to background and medical checks to establish that there is no reason why the applicant should not have access to firearms. A FPC would allow the person to �

Join any shooting club that will accept him.

Take any firearms training course available to him.

Borrow guns from existing Firearms Certificate holders to use under their supervision.

Carry non-lethal weapons (pepper spray, stun guns etc) in public for his personal protection.

Any person passing an appropriate course would be entitled to a Certificate of Competence with a particular class of firearm (such as handguns or shotguns). A person with a Fit Person Certificate and a Certificate Of Competence can have those translated into a Firearms Certificate (FAC), provided that he has adequate storage arrangements in place.

FACs will be renewable every five years, and will allow the holder to acquire and keep as many firearms and as much ammunition as his storage arrangements will allow.

Once an FAC holder has completed a training course in the defensive use of firearms and been issued the appropriate Certificate Of Competence, he or she would be authorised to carry a concealed, loaded handgun in public.

An FAC authorises the holder to allow his firearms to be used in his presence by any fit-person certificate holder.

Firearms Certificates can only be cancelled, suspended, or revoked by a court of law, and only on the grounds that the holder represents a danger to public safety or the peace.