GPMS Classification: NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED
Tuesday, 23 October 2018Your Ref:
Our Ref:«ID»
«Name»
«Address»
«PostCode» /
Firearms and Explosives Licensing
Dear «TitleSurname»
Yourfirearm and shotgun certificates expires on «FExpires».
It is important that you read this letter and comply with the requests within. Failure to do so may result in your application to renew not being completed on time and you not having a valid firearm or shotgun certificate. You will then be required to make alternative arrangements for the storage of the guns and ammunition. To be clear, it is your firearm and shotgun certificate and it is your responsibility to assist the police in ensuring its timeous renewal.
Please be aware that the process for renewal will have changed since you last applied for a firearm or shotgun certificate. It is important that you understand these changes and that you undertake the following tasks to ensure that you continue to hold your firearm and shotgun certificates without interruption.
If you do not wish to renew your certificate(s) please make contact with our office as soon as possible and we will provide advice and assistance.
Application
A valid certificate must be held to possess firearms, shotguns and firearms ammunition and you should complete a renewal application as soon as practicable to enable us to issue a new certificate before the current one expires.
This form can be downloaded direct from the Police Scotland website using the following link This form can be completed online however will require to be downloaded/printed in order that it may be signed. Alternatively, send a stamp addressed A4 or A5 envelope with a 1st class large letter stamp affixed to the Firearm Licensing Centre noted above.
IMPORTANT: Once completed, please DO NOT send yourfirearm/ shotgun application form to the Firearms Licensing Department. A Firearms Enquiry Officer will be in contact with you to make an appointment to attend your home address, collect your completed applicationand photographs and carry out the relevant enquiry.
Air Weapon Certificate
Firearm and shotgun certificate holders,whose certificates are valid beyond the 31st December 2016, can continue to possess and use air weapons until their current certificates expirebut CANNOT purchase or acquire any further air weapons after the 31st of December 2016. To purchase air weapons from the 31st December 2016 onwards, you will require an air weapon certificate, and you must apply for such a certificate.
NOTE: This means that firearm and shotgun certificate holders whose certificates were granted before 31st December 2016, will NOT require an air weapon certificate until that certificate expires, even if that is five years in the future, unless they wish to purchase or acquire any additional air weapons from the 31st of December 2016.
At the time of your next renewal, you will be required to apply for an air weapon certificate, should you wish to continue to possess and use (as well as purchase and acquire) air weapons. This will runcoterminous with your existing certificates and will cost£5.00.
If you do wish to pay the £5.00, please ensure the additional cost is added to the fee you have to pay as detailed below within ‘Payment Methods’.
If you wish to apply for an air weapon certificate, Form AWL1 can be downloaded directly from the Police Scotland website using the following link This form can be completed online however will require to be downloaded/printed in order that it may be signed. Alternatively, send a stamp addressed A4 or A5 envelope with a 1st class large letter stamp affixed to the Firearm Licensing Centre noted above.
IMPORTANT: Once completed, please DO NOT send your air weapon application form to the Firearms Licensing Department. When a Firearms Enquiry Officer attends in relation to your firearm and shotgun renewal, they will collect your completed application and photographs.
Payment Methods
The fee for a coterminous firearm and shotgun certificates is £65.00.
You can now pay your fee directly into a dedicated Police Scotland Firearms Licensing bank account. This can be done online using your own banks internet banking facility, or in person at any bank or Post Office branch using the slip provided on Page 4 (please ask for a receipt from the bank for proof of payment, and have this receipt available for the FEO when they attend).
If paying your fee online, please enter the payment reference as «ID»COT6500.
The bank account details for payment are as follows:
Bank – Royal Bank of Scotland
Sort Code – 830608
Account Number – 20897522
Medical Consent
You will note that Part B of the renewal application requires you to sign a mandate which states;
‘I give the police permission to contact my GP and/or specialist to obtain factual details of any medical history in relation to my suitability to possess a firearm and/or shotgun certificate. This authority is valid for the life of the certificate(s). I understand that my GP may share sensitive personal data with the police concerning my physical & mental health for the purpose of enabling the police to make a fully informed decision on my application or continued suitability, and I hereby consent to this processing of my personal data.’
The mandate you have signed consenting to information sharing between your GP and the police applies during the application process and during the validity of any Firearm or Shotgun Certificate, which may be up to five years. At this time, a ‘marker’ will be placed against your medical record which would alert your GP that you hold a current firearm or shotgun certificate. If your consent is withdrawn during the validity of the certificate, the police will review your suitability which may lead to revocation of the certificate.
Should you not wish such a marker placed against on your medical record, or enquiries made with your GP, it is your right not to sign the mandate.You must understand that in not signing the mandate, your application will not be progressed and no certificate will be issued.
You must inform the police if you begin to suffer from a relevant medical condition, or seek medical advice or treatment for such a condition, while the certificate remains valid.
Medical Review
You will find enclosed a letter addressed to your GP. As part of the renewal process, you must have this letter delivered to your GP. It is recommended that you read the contents of the letter in order that you are aware what is being asked of your GP. This letter informs the GP of your access to firearms and, if they have any concerns, provides an opportunity for them to inform without delay the Chief Constable of the reason for the concerns.
Your GP is also informed of the need to have a marker placed upon your electronic medical record, which will indicate that you will have access to firearms. The marker will be in place throughout the period of your certification and will remain on the GP system until you are no longer a certificate holder.
It must be noted that the Firearms Enquiry Officerwill not attend and undertake the enquiry until this letter has been providedto your GP and a response received. I must stress that failure to ensure this letter is provided to your GP timeously may lead to delays in the renewal process and your firearm(s) and/or shotgun(s) will have to be placed in storage until the outcome of the renewal enquiry has been considered.
It must be noted that your GP may charge for this service. This fee would be borne by you as the applicant in all cases.
Application Checklist
Firearm or Shotgun RenewalAction / Completed?
Form 201 competed and retained awaiting FEO to attend
Four identical photographs of you and sized 45mm X 35mm. One photograph must be signed in ink, on the rearby you, the applicant.
GP letter delivered
Payment made in respect of application and receipt retained if appropriate.
Land authorities held if appropriate
If an air weapon certificate is being applied for:
Form AWL1 competed and retained awaiting FEO to attend
As you have supplied four identical photographs as per instruction, you do not require to send any further photographs.
Additional payment of £5.00 made
If you do not wish to progress your application, or if you require any further assistance, please make contact with our office as soon as possible and we will provide advice and assistance.
Yours sincerely
Chief Inspector
PAYMENT SLIP
«ForenamesSurname»
«ID»
Please pay the sum of £65.00 into the following account:
Bank – Royal Bank of Scotland
Sort Code – 830608
Account Number – 20897522
Reference Number - «ID»COT6500
Tuesday, 23 October 2018Your Ref:
Our Ref:«ID» /
Philip Gormley QPM
Chief Constable
Firearms and Explosives Licensing
Dear Dr
«ForenamesSurname», «DOB»
The patient named above has applied to renew their firearm and shotgun certificates. We are writing to you to seek factual information about any relevant medical issues relating to this person.
What action is requested from the GP/GP practice?
- Respond to the questions in the attached form within 21 days indicating if you have any concerns about your patient being issued with firearm and shotgun certificates. (Please note that we do not require a medical report at this stage)
- Add a firearm read code to the patient’s record
- Contact police if the patient begins to suffer from a relevant medical condition
Relevant medical conditions
A relevant medical condition may affect a person’s ability to safely possess and use firearms and shotguns. Relevant medical conditions include, for example:
- Acute Stress Reaction or an acute reaction to the stress caused by a trauma
- Suicidal thoughts or self-harm
- Depression or anxiety
- Dementia
- Mania, bipolar disorder or a psychotic illness
- A personality disorder
- A neurological condition: for example, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s or Huntington’s diseases, or epilepsy
- Alcohol or drug abuse
- Any other mental or physical conditionwhich you think may be relevant.
Response from the GP
It is important that Police receive a response indicating whether there are medical issues relating to the certificate holder. Please note that if you do not respond to this letter within 21 days it cannot be assumed that you have no concerns in relation to your patient holding firearm and shotgun certificates. If you need more time to respond or have any other issues or questions, please let us know.
Please note that at a later stage a medical report may be required because the GP has indicated that there are relevant medical conditions or concerns. In these circumstances we will ask the applicant to request and pay for a medical report in order that we can make an informed decision on their suitability to possess firearms and shotguns.
Information sharing between GPs and police firearms licensing departments
Arrangements between GP and Police representatives in England, Wales and Scotland have provided for information sharing to protect public safety.
Consent
By submitting the firearm application your patient has given consent for police to contact their GP in order to obtain factual details of their medical history, and for the GP to provide this information to the police. This consent is valid during the application process and through the duration of the firearm and shotgun certificates. The guidance on confidentiality issued by the General Medical Council states:
‘You may accept an assurance from an officer of a government department or agency or a registered health professional acting on their behalf that the patient or a person properly authorised to act on their behalf has consented.’
The GMC guidance on confidentiality also states: ‘Disclosure may be necessary in the public interest, where a failure to disclose information may expose a patient, or others, to risk of death or serious harm. In such circumstances you should disclose information promptly to an appropriate person or authority.’
Police are responsible for the decision on a person’s suitability
You are not being asked for an opinion as to whether your patient should be permitted to possess firearm and shotgun certificates as that responsibility rests entirely with the Police.
Firearm reminder code
Please place a firearm and shotgun code on the patient’s record indicating that they are a certificate holder. Practices will likely wish to put an alert/flag/marker on the records (to open every time the patient file is opened) as a reminder. If the patient begins to suffer from a relevant medical condition which could affect their suitability to possess firearms and shotguns or if there are any other factors that give rise to concern, please contact the Police immediately so that we can review the person’s continued suitability.
Please use the following firearm and shotgun codes which can be used with the four main IT systems used in GP Practices in England, Wales and Scotland. The read code should remain on the patient record while the firearm and shotgun certificates are valid, which is usually for a period of five years. We will inform you if the certificates are not granted or it is revoked, cancelled or expires, whereupon you should add the negation read code to the clinical record to indicate that the patient no longer hold firearmand shotgun certificates.
Further information
If you need further information about any aspect of the process or your involvement, please telephone or email the firearms licensing department.
Yours sincerely
Chief Inspector
Firearm and Shotgun read codes for the encoded reminder
Read Codes / For clinical systems using Read v2: EMIS, INPS Vision, MICROTEST Evolution[Note that the stops are important parts of the code and must be included] / For clinical systems using CTV3: TPP SystmOne / SNOWMED CT
Has shotgun certificate / 9DP0 / XaYbK / 812091000000109
Has firearm certificate / 9DP.. / XaYbL / 812101000000101
Firearm/Shotgun Certificate Holder: GP response form
«ForenamesSurname», «DOB», PID«ID»
Please respond to these questions by letter or email to the Firearms Licensing Department within 21 days. If using email please scan or attach an electronic version of this form.
Yes / No1 / Do you have concerns about your patient being issued with a firearm or shotgun certificate? / ☐ / ☐
2 / Has your patient suffered from any relevant medical conditions listed below during the previous five years?
- Acute Stress Reaction or an acute reaction to the stress caused by a trauma
- Suicidal thoughts or self-harm
- Depression or anxiety
- Dementia
- Mania, bipolar disorder or a psychotic illness
- A personality disorder
- A neurological condition: for example, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s or Huntington’s diseases, or epilepsy
- Alcohol or drug related abuse
3 / Have you placed a firearm or shotgun reminder code on the patient record? / ☐ / ☐
Practice Stamp
Telephone…………...... Email………………………………………….
GP Name……………………………………..GMC Number……………......
Signature……………………………………...Date………………......
GPMS Classification: NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED