Firearms licensing: Firearms certificates
Renewal of a Firearm Certificate
Firearm certificates normally last for five years, and about 6-8 weeks before its expiry date, you should receive a notice of renewal, complete with application form.
This of course depends on certain factors, mostly that you have not moved house and forgotten to inform us! In such circumstances we cannot possible get a reminder to you. The onus of responsibility for renewal of your certificate rests with you. The fact that we did not, or were unable, to get a reminder to you, or that it got lost in the post, is not acceptable as an excuse for failing to renew on time.
If you have not received your renewal notice within the four weeks prior to the expiry date of your current certificate, you should contact your local Firearms Team or obtain a form from your local police station.
Should your current certificate expire before you apply for a renewal, you may well be committing the serious offence of being in possession of unlicensed firearms. You may also have to apply for a grant, at extra cost, instead of a renewal. If you find yourself in this position you should contact your Firearms Team Office immediately for advice.
If all is well and you receive your renewal application, you will discover that it is the same Form 101 as for a grant application. Advice on completing this form can be found under that section.
Please return your application for renewal as soon as possible, and certainly before the expiry date. Remember to include the correct fee and your four photographs, correctly endorsed by your referees.
It is at this time that you can also consider applying for a variation to your firearm certificate. Variations dealt with at the same time as a renewal attract no extra fee.
Depending on circumstances, if you submit your application in good time, you should receive your new certificate before the expiry of your old one. Common sense dictates that those certificate holders who have not been visited by the police on their previous renewal, should be visited now. Considering the lifetime of a certificate to be five years, it is not too excessive to ask to check your security after this period of time.
Please be sure to include full details of all firearms you possess, including serial numbers. The details that you supply should match the details held on our computer record, providing you have always informed us of the disposal and acquisition of each firearm.
If these records do not tally, then it is inevitable that we will be making further enquiries. It is an important duty of the police to keep track of all licensed weapons, thus helping to ensure that they do not fall into the wrong hands. Also ensure that you clearly show your "good reason" for possessing each and every individual firearm.
Now is a good time to reassess the existing authorities which have not been taken up during the lifetime of the old certificate. Do you still need these weapons? Do you need to change any of the authorities? A little thought now could save you the cost of a future variation.
Should it be deemed necessary to visit, one of our Enquiry Officers will contact you to arrange an appointment. If he/she finds that all is in order then your new certificate will be forwarded to you. Should there be a discrepancy either in your security or some other matter, then you will be notified, and usually given ample opportunity to put it right. When the problem is resolved, your new certificate will be issued. Your renewed certificate will show all the firearms you currently possess in Table 1 on the front; and including those that you acquired during the lifetime of the old certificate (and still possess), which were entered in Table 2 on the back.