Recommendation 48

It has been suggested that these issues could be addressed by assigning unique reference numbers to firearms licence applications and renewal applications. Police forces in the UK already give application numbers to applicants and certificate numbers to people who have been granted firearms licences130, and personal identification numbers and application reference numbers are used already by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, as part of Northern Ireland’s firearms licensing process.131 Assigning unique reference numbers in this way means that firearms licence applicants in the UK could share their unique application number with people whom they approach to be referees.