Recommendation 27

During this inquiry, we heard about several problematic issues with the referee system. Firstly, Reverend Gordon Matheson (pastor of the Free Church of Scotland at Sleat and Strath on the Isle of Skye) told us that “canvassing for favourable character references is one of the things people found very difficult”.88 Reverend Matheson noted his concern that “you can trawl around as long as you like until you find a couple of people willing to give you a reference”.89 Moreover, Fraser Lamb, Firearms Licensing Adviser for the Scottish Association for Country Sports (who was formerly the Head of Firearms Licensing for Police Scotland) told us that he sees “no benefit to having a referee”90, saying “[y]ou are going to ask your pals who are going to give it to you. You are not going to ask someone who is not going to give you a reference. In the four years that I was a firearms licenser, there was only one occasion when the referee raised a concern”.91