Firearms licensing: firearms
Fitness to be Entrusted with Firearms continued...
Unsound mind
This is a particularly difficult and sensitive area and it is not possible to provide a definition which covers every eventuality.
It is simply not practical for a psychiatric assessment to be carried out on each applicant, to check on a state of mind with particular attention to that person's suitability to possess firearms.
However, a Chief Officer of Police must be alert to any situation where an applicant or existing certificate holder has exhibited, or is exhibiting signs of depression, suicidal tendencies, long-standing or intermittent periods of either emotional instability or unpredictable behaviour. This would include persons who had been detained under the civil powers of the Mental Health Act 1983 on the basis of their behaviour posing a risk to the public.
Particular attention will be paid to anyone who has previously been subject to a hospital order, guardianship order or restriction order, under the provisions of the same Act, following the commission of offences. Although there is no correlation between periods of imprisonment and periods of detention under the Mental Health Act , it is important for the nature of such offences and the length of such orders to be examined in depth, in these situations.
It should be borne in mind that simply because a person has received treatment in the past for certain illnesses such as depression, it does not automatically follow that they are unfit to possess a firearm now. It is simply one of the many factors to be considered in the light of all other evidence relating to the applicant's character and history.
Safekeeping and handling of firearms
Consideration will include any evidence that unauthorised persons, such as known family members or associates, who may themselves present a danger to public safety, might have access to the firearms, notwithstanding any arrangements for the security of the firearms which may have already been made. Any history of serious mishaps involving firearms, or careless approach to the handling of other potentially dangerous items, will also receive close consideration.
Elementary co-operation with Licensing Authority
In order for any application to be processed properly, there is a basic and fundamental requirement for the applicant to co-operate with the licensing authority concerned. The following examples may indicate that a person has not complied with this need to co-operate: