BASC has submitted an official response to the government’s new Policing and Crime Bill.
The Bill is expected to pass to the Lords in June, be subject to formal consultation later in the summer and become law by the end of the year.
BASC, the UK’s largest shooting organisation, welcomed many of the firearms provisions contained within the proposed legislation when details were first announced in February.
However, the Association has used its formal written submission to suggest amendments it believes would reduce the administrative burden on the police without posing a risk to public safety. BASC are in the process of raising these issues with MPs who scrutinised the draft legislation at the Public Bill Committee stage.
Bill Harriman, BASC’s director of firearms, said: “BASC has been consulted by governments of all colours on amendments to firearms licensing guidance for more than the last 25 years. As key stakeholders, we continue to be part of that process.
“It is imperative that any changes made during the passage of the Bill through parliament do not have adverse or unintended consequences. BASC is active in ensuring that it is properly scrutinised and that the interests of shooting and our members are protected.
“Firearms legislation as it stands is not fit for purpose and BASC believes the new Bill takes care of many of its more troublesome aspects.”
Note to Editors: A full version of BASC’s written response to the Policing and Crime Bill is available here: http://basc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2016/04/THE-POLICING-AND-CRIME-BILL-2016.pdf
|For further inforamtion, please contact BASC's press office on 01244 573007 or email press@basc.org.uk
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