slipper 116 Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 hello all, just a quick question, when my fao interviews me regarding my application for a firearms certificate, if he asks me what experience i have with firearms,whats the most sensible answer? I have shot foxes with a 222, rabbits with a 22, and crows and rabbits with a 17, but was i breaking the law even though i was obviously next to the bloke who held the certificate? I want him to know I feel confident and are competent but don,t want to get caught out by saying i have used rifles if you know what i mean, what do you think? Quote Link to post
slipper 116 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 anyone? Quote Link to post
PlasticJock 539 Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 If you were next to the certificate holder, you weren't breaking the law. Unless you were on land without permission? Be very careful what you say, read up on whether you actually did commit an offence before saying anything, failing that tell them you've shot air rifles all your life and don't expect more than a .22 Quote Link to post
pipcock 21 Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 hello all, just a quick question, when my fao interviews me regarding my application for a firearms certificate, if he asks me what experience i have with firearms,whats the most sensible answer? I have shot foxes with a 222, rabbits with a 22, and crows and rabbits with a 17, but was i breaking the law even though i was obviously next to the bloke who held the certificate? I want him to know I feel confident and are competent but don,t want to get caught out by saying i have used rifles if you know what i mean, what do you think? Tell him what you have said here, i told them the same ,been out with my mate shooting for months and shot all his calibre's (which I had) how do they expect you to gain experience shooting before you apply for you FAC. and if you have land with permissions with quarry on and been passed for that calibre you should be ok ,other than that they may need to do land checks etc. I got a .17hmr and a .243cf first application and the only condition they added was it was a closed FAC,which has now been opened ,looks like youv'e done plenty of shooting anyway,just be yourself,and there not usually there to catch you out,most are there to help you.good luck pipcock Quote Link to post
zx10mike 137 Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 rather than tell him what animaLS you have shot i would just talk caliibres and then talk about the importance of clear identification and backstops.knowing every inch of your land especialy public footpaths ect.but be yourself. Quote Link to post
SportingShooter 0 Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I'd be careful what you say with regard to shooting other people's rifles. I've explained on other threads that some police forces do not interpret the "Estate Condition" and the term "Occupier" as they are advised to do by the Home Office guidance and stick to the original wording. Depending on how and when you have fired these rifles, you may have very technically committed an offence. Two FEOs I've comes across from two different forces believe that shooting another person's rifle without that person being the actual occupier or his servant is illegal. With the amount of ambiguity surrounding this issue, if it were ever to get as far as a court room it would be no doubt thrown out, I honestly don't believe the Crown Prosecution Service would sanction it either, however, I wouldn't want to be the first to be going through that as I'm trying to apply for an FAC. Drop the licensing department an email asking how they interpret the "Estate Condition" and go from there as to how you answer the questions during your interview. They are the majority of the time an informal chat about you, your history, why you want the firearms and what experience you have. As said above, mostly they are not there to catch you out, but while you aren't in possession of any certificates, digging yourself a hole isn't going to speed the process up. Always worth gathering as much information beforehand as you can SS Quote Link to post
richmcgin 32 Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 would fully agree with Sporting shooter here, dont dig yourself a hole and dont tell any lies just dont mention anything that may cause you a problem. A firearm cert carries with it a requirement to act responsibly and within the law, in all things ie, get done for drink driving and loose your certificate!. Quote Link to post
slipper 116 Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 thanks for the replies folks, i,ll keep all that info in mind, it,s just that when i applied for my shotgun certificate which i got with no problems, he asked me what experience i had with shotguns, when i replied " i,ve been shooting since i was a kid and my dad taught me to shoot" he said my dad had broken the law, how else do you get experience? should be ok, fingers crossed lol Quote Link to post
SportingShooter 0 Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 thanks for the replies folks, i,ll keep all that info in mind, it,s just that when i applied for my shotgun certificate which i got with no problems, he asked me what experience i had with shotguns, when i replied " i,ve been shooting since i was a kid and my dad taught me to shoot" he said my dad had broken the law, how else do you get experience? should be ok, fingers crossed lol Shotguns are different again. For Firearms it is quite specific in that the "Estate Condition" deal exactly with the use of firearms by non-certificate holders. The full estate condition is in the "Firearms Certificate" thread pinned at the top of the section, Quote Link to post
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