Experience of using Police Scotland firearms and explosives licensing service 20/21

Results updated 29 Apr 2021

We have published our analysis of feedback and responses for this survey, which we ran between June 2020 and March 2021. You can access the full update in PDF below. 

We received a good spread of response from across Scotland: 40% from the North, 33% from the East and 25% from the West.

61% of respondents said they were applying for the renewal of their certification, 12% were applying for the grant of a certificate and 11% were seeking to vary their existing certificates.

A strong majority of respondents (88%) said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall application process whilst 7% said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the service.

Over 80% said it was easy to get information, complete the application forms and contact Police Scotland.  82% stated they were satisfied with the speed and efficiency of the service whilst 9% said they were not satisfied.

The majority of the respondents (85%) felt that the officers and staff they dealt with were knowledgeable and professional whilst 4% were dissatisfied with the interaction with officers and staff.

The following areas are where respondents think there are improvements necessary: 

• Poor Police Scotland website – 5%
• Application process too slow – 6%
• Legislative issues in relation to the requirement for an Air Weapons Certificate – 7%
• The costs associated with providing information from their General Practitioner (GP) – 8%
• Inconsistencies in Firearms Enquiry Officer’s knowledge and experience of engaging with them – 9%
• Difficulty in contacting both the licensing function and Firearms Enquiry Officers – 16%.

Files:

• Firearms and Explosives Licensing Service – User Satisfaction Report 20/21, 435.9 KB (PDF document)