The Association of Chief Police Officers has made renewed calls to increase the cost of shotgun and firearms licences, with an 88% rise looking possible.
ACPO’s Andy Marsh said he wanted to see licence fees rise to £94, to combat a perceived funding shortfall of £19 million a year in application processing. In an interview with BBC West Midlands, he said: “The review of firearms licensing fees is long overdue.
“I’d like to increase the fees so we can look after public safety, we can deliver an excellent service to the public, and we can do so at a cost benefit to the taxpayer.”
BASC said there were ways the police could improve its service, and shooters should not pay for inefficiency. Mike Eveleigh of BASC’s firearms department said: “We’ll support the police in their efforts to improve, but we don’t want to be asked to pay a large sum for the promise of future improvements which we haven’t seen.”
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