NGO Responds to ACPO Firearms Security Campaign

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Responding today to the announcement by the police of a new national firearms security campaign, the NGO commented:
The National Gamekeepers' Organisation (NGO) unequivocally supports the need for licensed firearms to be kept safely and in accordance with the law at all times.

The organisation will always play its part in urging vigilance surrounding firearms security.
The recent addition to the Home Office Guidance allowing unannounced visits by the police to check that certificate holders' guns are being held securely is balanced by a requirement that such visits are intelligence-led and risk-based. The Guidance requires that the reasons for the visits are made clear at the time they take place.

An NGO spokesman said:
"Where the visits are conducted within the HO Guidance, we believe that certificate holders - one of the most law-abiding and responsible sectors of the community - will overwhelmingly want to cooperate with the police. The organisation does, however, expect the agreed guidance to be followed to the letter by those making the visits and we will take up via the proper channels any instances of our members experiencing visits that do not comply."
The NGO believes the associated Crimestoppers campaign, also launched by ACPO today, to "encourage the public to report any concerns they have about firearms licence holders," (to quote the Crime Prevention Minister, Norman Baker MP), to be a mistake. The NGO fears it will lead to malicious reporting and generally erode trust between firearms users, the police and the public at a time when they actually need to be strengthened.