Recommendation 26

By requiring applicants to provide proof that they are considered “fit to be entrusted with a firearm”84, the referee system currently in place was installed with the aim of protecting public safety and the peace. This is the principal consideration in firearms licensing regulations.85 We heard that police forces will investigate when licence holders change referees between their original application and renewal. Dr Colin Shedden, Director Scotland for the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, stated that police “ask existing referees is there any reason why they have not acted as a referee this time” as this could indicate “serious issues”.86 Superintendent Steven Duncan, Head of National Firearms and Explosives Licensing for Police Scotland, told us that it is important to check the reason for which applicants have changed referees - police “are mindful that when a referee change is made, that does prompt questioning about why that might be the case … . we may still go back to speak to one of the original referees to see whether there has been some sort of change in the dynamic or relationship, and to try to understand why that may be the case”.87