New Legislation on Social Media Checks for Firearms Licence Applicants Starts Today
Today marks the introduction of new legislation on how suitability assessments should be carried out for firearms licence applicants. The new guidance has been brought in to help police chiefs to make ‘appropriate, proportionate and consistent checks and assessments in order to come to an informed decision.’
The key updates found in this guidance relates to ‘additional checks’ that chief officers should carry out. These checks include:
Checks with other agencies, such as health professionals other than the GP, social services, probation services or multi-agency groups.
Checks with other licensing or regulatory bodies or Government enforcement agencies.
Drug or alcohol tests.
Credit or other financial checks.
Information obtained from open-source social media.
Interviews with individuals other than the applicant or their referees, for example, partners or representatives of shooting clubs attended by the applicant.
Background checks on partners or other individuals living at, or with unsupervised access to, the applicant’s address; and
Checks where there is an indication of domestic abuse
Chief officers should consider carrying out any or all the above checks if they are not satisfied that they have a complete picture of an applicant's suitability for a licence.
Why is new guidance being introduced?
The new guidance is being introduced following a 2015 investigation from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). 5 key problems in enforcing existing firearms legislation were found:
There is a lack of coherence between the 34 different sets of legislative provisions.
Loopholes are being exploited by those with criminal intent.
The law is difficult to find, given that it is scattered across numerous statutes.
Key terms within the legislation have been left undefined.
The law is so complex that even those who deal with it every day struggle to understand aspects of it.
These problems had led to a lack of consistency in how licence applications were assessed across the UK. HMICFRS stated in their report that unless appropriate enhancements were made to existing legislation there would be “inevitable consequences of further tragedy.”
The Home Office introduced legislation in the Policing and Crime Act 2017 allowing them to set out statutory guidance for police forces. A public consultation was launched in July 2019 and the government had planned to respond to this consultation by the end of 2019. However, they were delayed.
Why was the new guidance delayed?
A significant aspect of the new guidance relates to the disclosure of applicants' medical information. This was met with fierce resistance from both the medical community, for fears of violating patient confidentiality, and from groups representing gun owners. This opposition meant the government had to initiate further consultations with interest groups. This led to further amendments being made to the proposed guidance.
Increased Scrutiny
Although the UK has some of the strictest firearm's laws in the world, the deficiencies of the previous guidance were thrust into the spotlight this year. In August, five people were shot and killed and a further two injured in a mass shooting in Plymouth. A motive was never identified for the shooting, but a lot of attention was brought to the hateful content the perpetrator was sharing on social media.
The perpetrator had initially had his licence revoked following his involvement in an assault in 2020. However, his licence and shotgun were returned in July 2021 following his completion of a deferral as part of the Pathfinder Scheme. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is now investigating the circumstances surrounding the issue and later reissue of the licence in question.
In response to these tragic events, residents of Plymouth have set up ‘Plymouth Together.’ This hub is there to provide support and guidance to the residents of Plymouth and to raise funds for the families of those affected by the shootings.