Fed up! Land Check, Closed Ticket = Hassle

[pandamonia 0]

I have had my cert now for a few months and shot well over 1000 22lr and 750 17hmr over land thats cleared for .243

 

i have 2 new permissions that are owned by the same family of my current one.

 

West mercia have my permission slips for nearly 2 months and when i ring they cant even find a record of them, my local force has faxed them 3 times now and still no phone call.

 

They also say they wont call me they will call the land owner, which is useless since they wont be the one shooting there. They could easily say no its not suitable since they dont know any information on where i take my shots and where the pests are. in my opinion 90% of rural land is safe to shoot with 22lr if the person knows how to shoot safely.

 

What gets even better is that my local force say its been known to take them over 1 year to check land and 14months for a SG cert renewal!!!!!!!!

 

How can anyone possibly manage their pests if they cant shoot on their own land or have people shoot for them until the land has been checked which could be 12 months after the problem and the damage is done.

 

Getting someone with an open cert to shoot anywhere they like makes the whole checking process pointless as it may as well be me who knows the land better than some random to come shoot. Im also trusted by the land owner far more than a random open cert holder.

 

Anyone have any suggestions as to this predicament?

[The Seeker 3,048]

I cant see why it would take so long, I had some land passed and although it took a couple of months at the end of the day its only a firearms officer that needs to take a walk round.

 

They wouldnt meet me for the land check they just informed the owner when they were arriving. Fortunately I now have an open cert but my advice would be to keep on at them, politely explaining that the land owner is having a problem with pests and he wants you to get cracking.......Good luck mate

 

SEEKER

[jamie g 17]

hi mate what police force do you come under. and what part of west mercia are you trying to get checked as they cover a massive area.

i no most of worcestershire is passed for rimfires. i no this due to my flo telling me when he was checking some land for a friend of mine.

 

im lucky enough to have open ticket so i dont have that bother. but its true what you say a person that shoots the land will no it alot better then someone that has never been there. the laws seam very strange.

 

i think west mercia are two under staffed for the size of the area they cover.

 

im sure your police force could get them to tell if the land is on there system and if its passed for said''' calibers

Edited March 12, 2010 by jamie g

[pandamonia 0]

hi mate what police force do you come under. and what part of west mercia are you trying to get checked as they cover a massive area.

i no most of worcestershire is passed for rimfires. i no this due to my flo telling me when he was checking some land for a friend of mine.

 

im lucky enough to have open ticket so i dont have that bother. but its true what you say a person that shoots the land will no it alot better then someone that has never been there. the laws seam very strange.

 

i think west mercia are two under staffed for the size of the area they cover.

 

im sure your police force could get them to tell if the land is on there system and if its passed for said''' calibers

 

 

both perms are not cleared for anything, one used to be a part of another piece of land which is now stand alone so im betting they will argue that its needs doing again.

one also has a public footpath right in the middle which is never used. i shoot at night and used to shoot air rifles on there and never seen 1 person walk the path.

 

i wonder if there is a law about closed certs, it sounds to me like a wishful thinking rule rather than a official requirement to close peoples certs.

 

as we all know the police make it up as they go if they can get away with it.

 

i shoot right on the border of west mercia and west mids neary kidderminster

[waidmann 105]

as above mate,

get into them untill they get moving. often they just look at a map.

the feo will be the one to get hold of and explain the problem to.

my ticket was open from the start as i have lots of fields and small holdings as well as "big" parcels of land.

if they won't move quick then ask the land owner to call the feo and explain that the problem needs sorting as he can't fullfill his pest controll(damage to crop,neighbors complaining etc etc).

 

good luck

[flytie 1]

There are a couple of tactics you can employ to speed them along;

 

Get West Mercia Polices response to you in writing, or an email.

 

Write/email to your MP, with a copy of your permission from the farmer, and a copy of West Mercia's response and ask him to speak to the Police Liason Committee about proper funding "for this obviously underfunded and overstretched department". Ask your MP what he suggests that you do to help the farmer, who is losing money because of West Mercia Constabularys inefficiency, which is obviously being caused by understaffing and underfunding?

 

A copy to the Chief Constable and to the chairman of the Police Liason Committee needs to be sent too, with covering letters asking them what they are going to do about this unhappy and inneficient state of affairs?

 

Then send a copy of all corresspondence (emails will do nicely)to Mike Eveleigh at BASC and get him nagging at Mr Himsworth too. Basc were brilliant when helping me.

 

Chris Himsworth is the Head of the firearms department in West Mercia Constabulary. He can be found, occassionally, shooting at Worcester Norton Gun Club, when he is not off work with "stress"!

 

I had the same problem four/five years ago, things obviously have not improved. Which is odd, because "the firearms department had taken on new staff that were being trained up, and I quote "and when they eventually are trained,the new staff will deal with the backlog quickly". I wonder what they will say to you?

 

Atb, ft

Edited March 13, 2010 by flytie

[jamie g 17]

There are a couple of tactics you can employ to speed them along;

 

Get West Mercia Polices response to you in writing, or an email.

 

Write/email to your MP, with a copy of your permission from the farmer, and a copy of West Mercia's response and ask him to speak to the Police Liason Committee about proper funding "for this obviously underfunded and overstretched department". Ask your MP what he suggests that you do to help the farmer, who is losing money because of West Mercia Constabularys inefficiency, which is obviously being caused by understaffing and underfunding?

 

A copy to the Chief Constable and to the chairman of the Police Liason Committee needs to be sent too, with covering letters asking them what they are going to do about this unhappy and inneficient state of affairs?

 

Then send a copy of all corresspondence (emails will do nicely)to Mike Eveleigh at BASC and get him nagging at Mr Himsworth too. Basc were brilliant when helping me.

 

Chris Himsworth is the Head of the firearms department in West Mercia Constabulary. He can be found, occassionally, shooting at Worcester Norton Gun Club, when he is not off work with "stress"!

 

I had the same problem four/five years ago, things obviously have not improved. Which is odd, because "the firearms department had taken on new staff that were being trained up, and I quote "and when they eventually are trained,the new staff will deal with the backlog quickly". I wonder what they will say to you?

 

Atb, ft

 

i think it all depends on what flo you get in the area also. mine is very fast. took my dads ticket from start to finish 8 weeks which is fast for them.

someone else i no went there once in malvern and had it done well he waited.. not a grant i may add. but a change to his ticket.

 

just got to keep on at them

[pandamonia 0]

There are a couple of tactics you can employ to speed them along;

 

Get West Mercia Polices response to you in writing, or an email.

 

Write/email to your MP, with a copy of your permission from the farmer, and a copy of West Mercia's response and ask him to speak to the Police Liason Committee about proper funding "for this obviously underfunded and overstretched department". Ask your MP what he suggests that you do to help the farmer, who is losing money because of West Mercia Constabularys inefficiency, which is obviously being caused by understaffing and underfunding?

 

A copy to the Chief Constable and to the chairman of the Police Liason Committee needs to be sent too, with covering letters asking them what they are going to do about this unhappy and inneficient state of affairs?

 

Then send a copy of all corresspondence (emails will do nicely)to Mike Eveleigh at BASC and get him nagging at Mr Himsworth too. Basc were brilliant when helping me.

 

Chris Himsworth is the Head of the firearms department in West Mercia Constabulary. He can be found, occassionally, shooting at Worcester Norton Gun Club, when he is not off work with "stress"!

 

I had the same problem four/five years ago, things obviously have not improved. Which is odd, because "the firearms department had taken on new staff that were being trained up, and I quote "and when they eventually are trained,the new staff will deal with the backlog quickly". I wonder what they will say to you?

 

Atb, ft

 

i think it all depends on what flo you get in the area also. mine is very fast. took my dads ticket from start to finish 8 weeks which is fast for them.

someone else i no went there once in malvern and had it done well he waited.. not a grant i may add. but a change to his ticket.

 

just got to keep on at them

 

 

Well one peice of luck might be that 1 permission was part of a bigger permission which i think has shooters on which has been cleared so the boundary still comes under the original check, i think m going to call the FEO direct to see if i can get the other done.

 

sigh

[sage 0]

One of our customers had a problem such as yours.

He was a smart chap and got on well with his local farmer he got said farmer to write a letter stating he was going to offer a job of vermin controler to this chap and offer him a part time job, with payment,ONCE all the paperwork from the police was in order put a different twist on it. Worth a go, he got an open ticket in 4 weeks of the farmers letter. just an idea.