FAC : follow up on your references?

[Hrun]

To be honest I obtained my first FAC back in 1983 - when the UK was a much more free place to live. Hungerford and Dunblane were years away and shooting sports was not the political punchbag it is now. My application took but weeks to come through - back then you could get a variation in a week with a bit of luck. I know my membership of the local club was checked. My intended cabinet was checked but as far as I recall not my referees.

To put that in some context back then you could buy a SPAS 12 shotgun via the Grattans Catalogue (I kid you not) and when I bought my first pistol I sent my FAC off in the post with some money and a week later a lovely unused police owned Webley MK. IV .38 turned up via the Royal Mail. It cost me £50 including postage.

Fast forward 20 plus years and my first application 4 years ago.

54 days for the application, club were contacted, home visit to discuss and check cabinets. Referees were not contacted, doctor was for Mrs Hrun because one of her pain meds can be used for depression.

3 variations, 2 took a week, 1 took two..

Cost a little bit more, but hey, doesn't everything..

It is not all doom and gloom, when the system works, it isn't so bad.

[Dark Skies]

Fast forward 20 plus years and my first application 4 years ago.

54 days for the application, club were contacted, home visit to discuss and check cabinets. Referees were not contacted, doctor was for Mrs Hrun because one of her pain meds can be used for depression.

3 variations, 2 took a week, 1 took two.

Cost a little bit more, but hey, doesn't everything..

It is not all doom and gloom, when the system works, it isn't so bad.

That doesn't sound like Thames Valley Police at all.

[Hrun]

It isn't, Devon and Cornwall Police.. But it shows it can work :-)

[Pete]

I remember in the '70's walking out of May's clutching a DES Unique mod 69 .22LR pistol, having just px'd a Margolin .22 for it...............and best of all, leaving a Chelmsford dealer (Leech, I think) with a Canadian police issue Browning Hi-Power 9mm................in a brown paper bag................dear dead days.

Pete

[bamzooki99]

My references wern't taken up in last renewal. Like they say, everywhere is different.

[Oddbod]

FEO here in Cumbria checked my references.
I wish 60 days was the average wait here for applications & renewals but it isn't.
It's 140 days plus. aaarggh

[G_C]

An update to this. Although the second text message indicated that the background checks had been completed this did not include checking of references.

We had the FEO visit at the start of the week and then the references were all contacted the same day (four of them due to there being 2 FAC applications).

3 of 4 didn't answer and were left a voicemail message stating that if they were the named person, knew who we were, knew they had been listed as references and had no concerns then they were told to NOT ring back. One did answer and was asked the same questions along with how long he'd known me. That was it.