Memorandum submitted by the British Association
for Shooting and Conservation
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
— There is no significant relationship
between armed crime and legally owned guns.
— Between 1999—2003-04 armed crime
rose steadily whilst the number of firearm and shotgun certificates
fell by 9 %.
— The Firearms Acts 1997 have had no impact
on armed crime and have destroyed the sport of pistol shooting
with no benefit to public safety.
— Handguns remain the weapon of choice
for armed criminals.
— The current regime for licensing shotguns
is the most efficient part of the administration of the Firearms
Acts because it concentrates on the applicant.
— The proposal to tag certificate holders'
medical records is disproportionate and raises issues which have
not been addressed by those who propose it.
— The current requirement to allow the
police to ask for factual details from a certificate holder's
GP is proportionate and effective.
— Airguns are already heavily regulated
by law, particularly where young people are concerned.
— Airgun offences of violence against the
person have fallen steadily over the last 38 years.
— If airguns were licensed, the police
service would not be able to cope with the additional workload.
RECOMMENDATIONS
— The Firearms Acts 1968-1997 should be
consolidated into a single Act.
— No wholesale review of firearms law should
take place in the current emotionally charged climate.
— Any new firearms legislation should be
divided into two acts; criminal justice matter and licensing administration.
— Appeals against police licensing decisions
should be dealt with by a tribunal.
— Airgun control laws should not be devolved
to Scotland.
— The current regime for licensing shotguns
should be extended to sporting rifles.
1) INTRODUCTION
1.0) With some 130,000 members, the British
Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) is regarded as
the major UK representative body for sporting shooting. BASC's
expertise on firearms matters is widely recognised and we are
routinely consulted by a variety of government departments and
agencies (including the Home Office, DEFRA, LANTRA, the Health
and Safety Commission) and other statutory and non-statutory bodies,
eg the Association of Chief Police Officers.
1.1) BASC is the only shooting association
in the UK with a dedicated Firearms Team. The team is widely recognised
as having particular expertise on all firearms matters—legal,
practical and technical—as well as having a forensic capacity.
1.2) BASC believes that any controls on
firearms and related matters must strike a balance between the
legitimate aspirations of firearms users and the need to ensure
the safety of the public. However, such a balance must be evidence-led,
proportionate and consistent with the Human Rights Act 1998.
1.3) As the Committee has sensibly imposed
an upper limit of 2,500 words on written submissions, this response
takes the form of skeleton arguments. BASC is happy to expand
on any aspect of this submission on request as well as providing
details of source material.
1.4) This memorandum is NOT CONFIDENTIAL
and BASC welcomes its wider dissemination as part of the ongoing
debate.
2) GUN CONTROL
AND ARMED
CRIME
2.0) BASC welcomes the creation of NaBIS as
a body which will be able to provide good quality data on the
types and sources of firearms used in crime in the UK.
2.1) BASC asserts that the extent to which
legally held guns are used in criminal activity is miniscule.
This is clear from a response to a Parliamentary Question by the
then Home Office Minister, Tony McNulty MP in 2008. (The minister
was responding to James Brokenshire, MP who asked if the computer
systems for NaBIS, FLMS and PNC would be linked.)
2.2) "It was found that the potential
crossover between the data held by the systems was very small,
due to the very low instances of legally held firearms being used
in gun crime and the small overlap in information shared between
the two applications. Furthermore, the data descriptors of `firearms
recovered at Scenes of Crime' and `firearms being licensed' may
be somewhat different and, as a result, inquiries would be passed
from NABIS to expert firearms officers in the Licensing Departments.
As a consequence, it was agreed that any risk of legally held
firearms being used for criminal purposes was so low that given
the difficulty of automating a matching process between systems,
the cost of building such an interface would outweigh any perceived
benefits."
2.3) Home Office statistics show that sporting
firearms—shotguns and rifles—seldom feature in firearms
offences. In 2008-09, shotguns were used in 8% of offences whilst
rifles and other firearms were used in 10%. (The latter category
also includes starting pistols, CS guns and other unknown firearms.)
2.4) This is in stark contrast to the use
of handguns which formed 52% of all offences.
2.5) The following types of handguns are
routinely used by criminals:
— Imported Russian "Baikal" tear
gas pistols converted to fire .38 or .32 live ammunition. (Large
numbers of these have been recovered since 2003.)
— Blank cartridge pistols converted to
fire live ammunition.
— Self-contained gas cartridge pistols
converted to fire live ammunition. (These air weapons—known
by the generic name of Brococks—were banned by the Anti
Social Behaviour Act 2003. However as a result of the failure
of the Home Office to publicise this prohibition large numbers
of these guns—estimated at 68,000—are still in circulation,
providing a ready source of easily modified firearms for criminals.
2.6) The lack of any relationship between
legally held guns and armed crime is self-evident from Home Office
statistics. Gun crime rose steadily from 1999, to peak in 2003-04.
During the same period the number of firearm and shotgun certificates
on issue fell by 8% and 9% respectively.
2.8) BASC asserts that the Firearms (Amendment)
Acts 1997 have had no impact on armed crime and have simply destroyed
the long-established and well-regulated sport of pistol shooting
for no commensurate gain.
3) WHETHER OR
NOT THE
CURRENT LAWS
GOVERNING FIREARMS
LICENSING ARE
FIT FOR
PURPOSE
3.0) The Firearms Acts have evolved in a
haphazard manner by the addition of numerous Amendment Acts and
Statutory Instruments. The 1968 Act has been modified over 35
times making it difficult for practitioners to use and incomprehensible
to lay people. A Consolidating Act is required as a matter of
urgency.
3.1) ACPO has already identified minor improvements
that would simplify the law and improve its administration. These
could be easily accomplished by a Regulatory Reform Order and
BASC supports this initiative.
3.2) Much of the haphazard nature of the
Firearms Acts has been caused by amendments which were hastily
drafted, "incident led" and ill-considered. This has
resulted in law which has been both ineffective and misdirected.
Whilst it would be entirely appropriate to consider potential
legislative changes that may be identified by the impending reports
into the Cumbrian shootings, BASC strongly suggests that any root-and-branch
review of firearms legislation should be deferred until the emotion
emanating from this tragedy has dissipated. Hard cases make bad
laws.
3.3) Although the Firearms Acts are penal
statutes, they are also enabling legislation which licenses those
people who wish to use firearms for legitimate purposes. In the
interests of good jurisprudence, BASC asserts that it is inappropriate
to combine both functions in a single Act. If new legislation
is considered, BASC recommends that it should be divided. Those
matters which concern the prevention of crime and the preservation
of public safety should be part of a Criminal Justice Act. Firearms
licensing provisions should be dealt with by an administrative
act.
3.4) The Firearms Act 1968 is not Human
Rights compliant as there is no right of appeal to law against
the imposition of a condition on a Firearm Certificate by the
police and the decision of the Home Secretary. Appellants in Crown
Court appeals against police licensing decisions are disadvantaged
as there is no "equality of arms" in matters of procedure,
evidence and costs. BASC recommends that licensing appeals should
be dealt with in the first instance by a tribunal.
3.5) Although the Firearms Acts are complicated,
they have the virtue of applying to Great Britain as a whole.
BASC does not support the Calman Commission's proposal to devolve
airgun legislation to Scotland. This should remain with Westminster
to ensure consistency.
3.6) BASC asserts that the current licensing
system for shotguns is the greatest strength of the Firearms Acts
because it licenses a person to own a class of firearm. Firearms
licensing should always concentrate on the suitability of the
applicant rather than being a mechanistic process for recording
the details of individual firearms, their mechanisms and uses.
3.7) Shotguns are routinely used for pest
control, wildfowling, game shooting and clay target shooting.
Currently, there are 1,366,800 shotguns held on 574,946 shotgun
certificates in Great Britain, an average of 2.4 shotguns per
certificate holder. Different types and sizes of shotgun are used
for different purposes and quarry species. Over 200 million shotgun
cartridges are used each year.
3.8) The current licensing system for shotguns
is both proportionate and effective because it concentrates on
the suitability of the applicant. The police can refuse an application
if they think the applicant does not have a good reason for possessing
a shotgun or is likely to be a danger to the public safety or
to the peace. The certificate holder must secure his shotguns
and advise the police of any acquisitions or disposals. These
are effective checks and balances.
3.9) BASC strongly recommends that the current
regime for shotguns should be applied to sporting rifles and muzzle-loading
firearms. This would streamline the licensing process without
impairing upon public safety.
4) PROPOSALS
TO IMPROVE
INFORMATION-SHARING
BETWEEN MEDICS
AND THE
POLICE IN
RESPECT OF
GUN LICENSING
4.0) BASC has already explored the proposal
to put a marker or tag on firearms owners' medical records with
colleagues from ACPO and the British Medical Association (BMA).
This is highly controversial and raises issues of patient confidentiality
and security of information. BASC cannot support this proposal.
We believe it to be disproportionate; and it has raised concerns
which have not been satisfactorily addressed by those who proposed
it.
4.1) In terms of proportionality, BASC questions
whether it is reasonable for those who own firearms to have their
medical records treated in this manner. Others within society
who have access to items and materials that could be dangerous
if misused—eg cars, petrol, poisons, knives, archery equipment
etc—do not have their medical records tagged.
4.2) BASC is in touch with the Information
Commissioner's Office over the issues of proportionality and data
confidentiality and expects to explore them further. Early contact
suggests that this proposal may be in conflict with one or more
of the principles within the Data Protection Act 1981.
4.3) One concern with this proposal is the
security of information and who has access to it. Any access to
information which gives the location of where guns are stored
creates a potential security risk. One of the reasons why the
theft of firearms from private houses is so low is that certificate
holders are circumspect about revealing that they possess guns.
4.4) BASC notes that wider public concern
has already been expressed in the media about the security of
the proposed NHS database which will hold Summary Care Records.
It has been estimated that up to 40,000 people may have access
to this information.
4.5) A further concern is that tagged records
would act as a strong disincentive which could discourage certificate
holders with minor mental health problems seeking help because
of a fear that they will lose their certificates.
4.6) In BASC's experience, there is a general
lack of basic knowledge of sporting firearms and their legitimate
uses within the medical profession. BASC is also aware of a significant
proportion of GPs who are opposed to the private ownership of
firearms on moral grounds; and who mistakenly believe that this
is a public health issue.
4.7) BASC is aware of routine calls for
applicants for firearm and shotgun certificates to undergo some
form of psychometric testing as part of a wider assessment of
their suitability to possess firearms. There is no scientific
evidence to show that psychometric testing is capable of detecting
someone who is likely to become dangerous with a firearm. Equally
the BMA concedes that "Doctors must make it clear that
they are in no position to judge the `future dangerousness' of
any applicant".
4.8) BASC believes that the current requirement
for certificate holders to allow the police to ask their GPs for
factual information about medical conditions provides a proportionate
safeguard for public safety. Such permission is given without
time limit and has to be reiterated on renewal of the certificate.
5) THE DANGERS
PRESENTED BY,
AND LEGISLATION
REGULATING AIRGUNS
5.0) It is a common misconception that although
most airguns are not licensed, they are not subject to any controls.
Any airgun which is capable of inflicting a lethal injury is legally
classified as a firearm. For offences relating to the prevention
of crime and the preservation of public safety, airguns are treated
in the same way as any other firearm. Those who misuse airguns
are subject to over 30 criminal charges with penalties including
fines and imprisonment.
5.1) Since the HAC last considered this
issue in 1999-2000, there have been four new pieces of legislation
to regulate the use and possession of airguns.
5.2) It is estimated that there are seven
million airguns in the UK, owned by five million people. Airguns
are a very important part of the gun trade's business and Britain
leads the world in the innovation and development of them.
5.3) Since 1969, air rifles held without
a licence have been limited in power to a kinetic energy of 12
foot-pounds (ft/lbs). By comparison a .22 rimfire rifle, used
for training cadets, target shooting and small pest control has
a kinetic energy of around 135 ft/lbs and a standard shotgun can
easily reach 1,350 ft/lbs. Air pistols are limited to 6 ft/lbs.
Above these power levels, air rifles can only be possessed on
the authority of a firearm certificate and such air pistols are
prohibited weapons.
5.4) Air rifles and pistols are used in
target shooting up to Olympic level. Low powered air rifles (<
12 ft/lbs) fire a light projectile over short distances and are
also used to control pests up to the size of a rabbit at ranges
up to 25 yards. They are effective around buildings where it would
be dangerous to use conventional firearms.
5.5) Home Office statistics show that in
2008-09, the level of airgun offences declined by 19% which in
turn was a fall of 15% over the previous year. The overall decline
in airgun offences since the peak year of 2003-04 is 56%.
5.6) Although violent crime has increased,
violence against the person with airguns has fallen over the last
38 years. The increase in offences of criminal damage with airguns
is attributable to economic factors as the recording level of
£20 has been halved in value by inflation.
5.7) The use of airguns by young people
is heavily regulated, viz:
— It is an offence for anyone to fire an
air pellet beyond the premises where they have permission to shoot.
— Young people under 14 may not use an
airgun unless they are supervised by someone over 21.
— Young people between 14-17 years of age
may not buy or hire an airgun or ammunition or receive one as
a gift. A person within this age group may not carry an airgun
in a public place at any time unless supervised by a person of
or over 21 years and then only with a good reason for doing so.
— Nobody under 18 years may buy an airgun
or its ammunition.
5.8) Retrospective licensing of air weapons
would not improve public safety because it could not be enforced.
There are no records of airgun owners and recent experience suggests
that the measure would be met with massive non compliance.
5.9) Licensing airguns would impose an intolerable
administrative burden on the police which would have an adverse
impact on public safety by diverting scarce resources away from
front-line policing and firearms licensing. The firearms licensing
system is already stretched to its limits in many police forces.
5.10) In 1999 an Adjournment Debate was
held in Parliament on air weapons. The then Home Office Minister,
Paul Boateng MP concluded that the solution to airgun misuse was
education of young people and enforcement of existing law. BASC
supports this sensible stance.
25 August 2010
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