PUBLIC expectations around the requirements and vetting procedures to hold a firearms licence have changed considerably since the Island’s gun laws came into force – as shown by recent inquests into shootings in Plymouth – the Home Affairs Minister has said.
Deputy Helen Miles confirmed that a review of the Island’s firearms laws was due to take place next year with the view to ‘tightening’ the regulations around who can hold a gun licence.
This week, inquests into the death of Plymouth shooter Jake Davison and his five victims led to strong criticism of the Devon and Cornwall Police’s firearms unit in granting the gunman a licence, and subsequently failing to revoke it.
During a Children’s, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel hearing yesterday, Deputy Miles said: ‘It is important to say that the current Firearms Law was passed in, I think, 2000, but actually developed in about 1995 and there has been a considerable change in public expectations since then and also in the variety of weapons available to the public. Another area that has recently raised the profile [of this area] was the recent inquest of Jake Davidson in Plymouth.
‘Although my ministerial plan prioritises this focus, I just need to say that ideally we would like to do that sooner, but the timing and limited resources available to us for revising legislation have meant that we have kept other proposals in train at the expense of this.’
In April 2021, Jersey had 1,277 firearms certificate holders, with 160 in St Helier, 158 in St Brelade and 157 in St Ouen. Figures released for 2017 reveal that registered firearms then included 2,350 shotguns, 2,216 rifles, 165 carbines, 1,534 semi-automatic pistols and 590 air rifles. In November 2020, the total number of firearms held was 8,982.
Deputy Miles said that, per capita, the Island had a ‘high number of weapons’ but that she believed that the current controls were ‘adequate’ at present.
‘The review is not designed to prevent bona fide licence holders like shooters who exercise that as a sport or hobby,’ she said. ‘But we need to make sure we are minimising the risk to the public and make sure they are fit and proper people to hold firearms.
‘We will be looking at this with the purpose of public safety in mind. It may well be that there is a tightening of some of the rules and requirements in law around those issues.’
She added that there might need to be ‘more robust requirements’ as to whether someone was medically fit to hold a firearms licence and the vetting and security screening. Currently, the issuing of firearms licences rests with the 12 parish Constables.
‘We will be asking the policy officers to look more broadly and look at other islands and see what they do,’ the minister said.
‘An example from Guernsey is that it is the States of Guernsey Police that monitor firearms licences. They also have an absolute ban on holding ammunition at home – ammunition must be held at a regulated range.’
Elsewhere in the hearing, Deputy Miles said that the investigation into the explosion at the Haut du Mont block of flats on Pier Road would have ‘significant costs’ but that there was ‘a commitment from government that the necessary funding will be found to do the job that needs to be done’.
‘The thing I need to say is this is not going to be over any time soon. We are expecting the ramifications of this incident to last for years,’ she added.
The Scrutiny Panel was chaired by Deputy Catherine Curtis, sitting alongside Deputy Beatriz Porée and Constable Mark Labey.
