Dorset Firearms team

You have been nominated as having agreed to be a ‘referee’ for someone who is applying for the grant or renewal of a firearm or shotgun certificate. 

The role of the referee is to provide honest, reliable and factual information to the police, as the licensing authority, about someone who is applying for a grant or renewal of a firearm and/or shotgun certificate, this information is used by the police, with other information to assess whether a person is fit to be entrusted with a firearm.

As a referee, you are not required to guarantee the applicant's good behaviour.

You must provide a reference freely and without any fee. If you are a professional acting as a referee for payment, we will ask the applicant to provide an alternative referee.

You must have to have known the applicant personally for at least two years. The general expectation is that you will have known them for the most recent two years and have had a reasonable amount of contact with the applicant, whether in a professional, business or social context. 

As a referee, you should be able to comment on the applicant’s general character and background, to provide information which will give a picture of their suitability, this may include things like their home life, whether they have arguments with their partner or family members or have suffered bereavement; their work life, whether they are stressed or unhappy at work; their social life and general welfare, whether there are drinking excessively, using drugs or have other medical concerns.

Knowing someone for two years, but not in a capacity that you have ‘got to know’ them, may mean you are not best placed to be a referee for them.

Firearm and shotgun certificate application forms no longer require a counter-signatory, applicants are required provide details of someone who has agreed to be a referee, the onus is on the applicant to obtain this permission.

We will notify you, and may contact you where you have been nominated to provide you with an opportunity to comment.

If you receive such notification and have not agreed to act as a referee, or you no longer wish to be a referee please contact us.

It is an offence under section 28A(7) of the Firearms Act 1968 for a person knowingly or recklessly to make any statement which is false in any material particular for the purpose of procuring (whether for himself or another) the grant or renewal of a certificate under this Act.

If you have a concern about an applicant or firearm and/or shotgun certificate holder, please contact us using the contact form Contact us - Dorset Firearms

Where you have more immediate concerns you should consider the following:

Emergency - Call 999 if:

• someone is in an immediate danger of harm;
• a crime is in progress or has just happened;
• a serious disruption to the public is likely.

If you do not wish to contact the police directly, contact the independent charity CrimeStoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or using their online reporting form and give information anonymously.

Referees may be of any background, but should meet the following criteria:

• resident in Great Britain (Not including Northern Ireland);
• has known the applicant personally for at least two years. The general expectation is that the referee(s) will have known the applicant for the most recent two years and that they have had a reasonable degree of contact with the applicant during that period;
• is of good character;
• is not a member of the applicant’s family; and
• is not a serving police officer, a police employee, a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), a member of staff of a PCC, or a Registered Firearms Dealer (RFD).

Family, is taken to mean: wife, husband, mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandparent and in-laws or step relations as above. Cousins are not regarded as immediate family, but co-habiting or civil partners or partners in a same sex marriage are considered as family for these purposes and would not be accepted.

The police may carry out some background checks on nominated referees in order to determine his or her character, previous allegations or convictions for firearms or dishonesty offences may mean that you are not considered to be suitable.

Where referees are not considered to be suitable, applicants will be asked to provide details of alternative referees, we will not disclose to applicants whether someone acting as a referee is not considered of good character.

We are currently working on grant applications received in Q1, 2021 and renewals received in Q3, 2021

(There will be a small minority of cases which are older than this which we are actively working on)

We will always seek to prioritise those with a business or commercial need wherever possible, every application is assessed on a case-by-case basis, and therefore the time taken to complete an application will vary.

The issuance of Temporary Permits continues to reduce with a focus on turning these into full renewals. Where this can’t be achieved, shotgun certificate holders who have been issued with Temporary Permits are still able to purchase S.2 shotgun ammunition. Whilst we tackle the backlog the use of Temporary Permits, where safe to issue, remains essential to ensure that certificate holders are not left in unlawful possession and able to continue their profession / hobby.

Please ensure that you submit your renewal application as soon as you receive your invite letter, if you apply more than 8 weeks before your expiry you will receive an automatic 8 week extension to your certificate if we are unable to process your renewal in time.

We cannot issue a certificate where we have not received medical information from your GP, it is your responsibility to make sure that this information is supplied, we will not issue temporary permits under section 7 of the Firearms Act where we do not have this medical report.

Try to avoid contacting the department requesting updates on the delay as this can divert our staff from working on the backlog of applications.

Yes, including all traffic convictions, cautions and any offences committed abroad even if they have been declared before.

No matter how historical it is always better to declare the information up front to help us process your application in a timely manner.

Chief Officers of police have a duty to protect the public and certificate holders. Where there is information that identifies a risk or potential risk to public safety then we may seek voluntary surrender of firearms and certificates whilst we conduct an investigation or suitability review, we will keep you updated of the progress and may need to speak with you before we make a decision.

In some circumstances we may revoke your certificates, if this is the case we will provide you with a letter detailing our reasoning.

At the conclusion of our review your certificates and firearms may be returned with no further action, returned with a warning letter or your certificates may be revoked.

Our Authorised Firearms Officers (AFO’s) are trained and equipped to be able to safely handle firearms and certify that they are in a safe state to be transported.

Where is has been necessary to take possession of firearms, either through voluntary surrender or revocation these will be held securely in our property store, we will wherever possible try to move these to either a Registered Firearms Dealer or another certificate holder of your choosing as soon as possible, however if they are evidence in an investigation, they may not be released until the conclusion of that investigation.

Ordinarily in police investigations, the criminal burden of proof is ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’, in other words, ‘so that you are sure’.

However, when assessing information in firearms licensing regarding behaviour or an allegation, the civil burden of proof is considered, this is ‘on the balance of probability’, or in other words, ‘more likely than not to be true’.

A criminal investigation may be discontinued for a number of reasons, that not to say that the incident or event did not happen but that the evidential threshold for prosecution or conviction is not met, however this may still be considered in our reviews to the lower evidential threshold mentioned above.

Yes, please use our Gun Transfer Form to send this information to us – Firearms Gun Transfer form - Dorset Police

You can take your firearms or shotguns to a Registered Firearms Dealer who can safety dispose or destroy them for you, you must notify us of the transfer by completing this form [Gun Transfer Form]

Alternatively you can surrender them to any police station, please ensure that your firearms or shotguns are unloaded and covered in a suitable case or slip when in public, and that your take your certificate(s) with you when you attend a police station.