An inspection of firearms licensing across police forces in England and Wales
31/08/2026
On Friday, 28 August 2026, HMICFRS published its thematic inspection, entitled ‘Firearms licensing An inspection of firearms licensing across police forces in England and Wales’. The report received significant press coverage. The report is some 81 pages in length and contains 23 recommendations.
Nothing in the report surprised us. In the foreword, the Inspectorate states;
It is essential that the firearms licensing system is robust, consistent and focused on protecting the public. The public should be able to trust and have confidence in the overall licensing system, with all parts operating to high standards, wherever an applicant or certificate holder resides. Unfortunately, in this inspection we found it is not fit for purpose.
It further states
Firearms licensing affects hundreds of thousands of people and plays a critical role in protecting the public. Most certificate holders comply with the law and use firearms responsibly. They, and the wider public, are entitled to expect a system that is clear, consistent and robust. We found that the system is none of those things and change is overdue.
That is not a surprise. It’s a disgrace.
Whilst the report requires some digesting, the core recommendations are establishing a national firearms licensing authority and redesigning and simplifying firearms legislation;
Neither is the work of a moment. In respect of a national firearms licensing authority, there is nothing to fear in this. There already is one for a large part of the UK, namely Scotland. One force deals with firearms licensing, and its performance is exceptional. Over 98.2% of applications are dealt with before expiry. We, like our colleagues in other shooting organisations, rarely hear complaints about process. Law enforcement, yes; process, no.
If we were to establish a national firearms licensing department tomorrow, there would be four processing centres for England and Wales. They could be located anywhere. These processing centres would feed enquiries to the local forces that require to be conducted, and then receive the answers, which would be assessed by a cadre of highly experienced officers or officials, who could then advise chief officers in respect of grant/revocation/refusal, etc. The local delivery of the function is maintained, but processing is done centrally, providing consistency and a higher-quality service. That’s what happens in Scotland.
Calls for a passport-style or DVLA-type agency are nonsense and are often made by people who do not know how actually to run a firearms licensing department. Similarly, the police in England and Wales don’t generally have a clue about how such a process would work. The HMICFRS readily indicates the lack of grip that forces have on the function, leading to poor processes, poor decision-making, inconsistency, and ignorance, all wrapped up in authoritarian bluster.
We, like all the shooting organisations, have to deal with the inconsistency, wrongness and misfeasance daily. Firearms licensing is unique in policing. It is an environment where hundreds of thousands of people have to engage with the police when they don’t normally have anything to do with the police. They are your common, law-abiding citizens. And yet what are they faced with – paying for poor service, indifference, and an authoritarian edict. It's appalling.
The second part is the review of the legislation. Does it need to be brought up to date? Yes. Is there a political appetite to do so? We’re not sure. Many other matters in the country need to be sorted first. We will watch closely in respect of how this develops.
In the meantime, nothing will happen immediately. These things take time, and there is no need to set hares running.
There will be an update on the podcast in due course, where we will go through each recommendation and provide context.
In conclusion, those responsible for managing firearms licensing departments in England and Wales should read this document carefully and reflect on its contents. The service and system may improve. Because we know it needs to.