Guide for Referees

[Pippin89]

Hi all
Does anyone have a link that give advice for referees. One of mine has not shooting experience and no knowledge of it so I'm trying to find some information on what it is I'm applying for and what she can expect by agreeing to it. Shes already agreed but I was something I can send her to fill her in a bit more.

[kennyc]

as far as I know there is no guide for refferees as they are not expected to provide anything other than an honest appraisel of how you appear to them, shooting experience is irrelevant, the FEO will want to know if they have any worries about your health or mental health as evidenced by your behaviour around them. They are not expected to experts and not expected to act as guarantor of your future behaviour.

[CraigH]

I'm in the process of applying for my FAC and referee was recently contacted - they were asked how long they had known me, were they aware of any reasons why I may be unsuitable to possess a firearm, were they aware of any issues with my mental health, had they noticed any changes in my personality. I think it only took a 2 minute conversation and then it was done.

Provided 2 referees, only one was contacted.

[Mattnall]

Gone are the days where at least one had to be a (controlling0 member of the club.

The Club secretary is contacted as a matter of course to see if you are a member (if applying for target shooting etc) and the referees are there to mainly assess your ability to make friends in a social way outside of shooting. Most clubs wouldn't know their member socially despite having known them for possibly many years.

It came about as referees could both be from the applicant's club and they would only know him/her from there. It could be that the applicant was a loner who only went to the club and spent his spare time sitting in a dark room stroking airsoft replicas of 'assault weapons', and unable to make at least two non-shooting friends who liked and knew the applicant enough to stand as referees.

[Pippin89]

Thanks All. I certainly don't expect her to know any details about shooting but thought there might be something that explained to a complete lay-person what I was applying for and what the purpose of the referee was. You tell someone with no understanding of the sport or firearms in general that you are applying for a firearms licence and their first reaction is confusion. I just want to alleviate that confusion without bombarding her with the full application process.

The description of what happened above is spot on! I can tell her that.