Extra cash to speed up gun licensing

John Campion said gun licensing had become more complex after the fatal shootings in Plymouth in August 2021

A backlog of firearms licence requests is being addressed, says the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner.

John Campion has allocated an extra £200,000 to reduce waiting times in the force area.

It currently takes an average of 230 days to issue a firearms licence in the rural counties of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and 251 for a shotgun licence.

Explaining that some people locally were dependent on licences for work, Mr Campion said the process had become more lengthy after extra checks were introduced in the wake of the fatal shootings in Plymouth in August 2021.

West Mercia has become the force area with the largest quantity of registered firearms licence holders in England and Wales, with a total of 38,000, according to Mr Campion.

In the past 12 months, he added, he had received 46 pieces of correspondence complaining about lengthy waits.

He said the number of tasks the firearms licensing unit had to perform had quadrupled in the space of 12 months and there were also lengthy waits locally for licence renewals.

“I have recognised the impact the delays will be causing on people – particularly those that may need a licence for the purposes of work," he explained.