As some unfortunate shooters will be all too well aware, their local doctor may be among those who won’t provide the necessary medical approval allowing an applicant to first obtain or renew their shotgun or firearms certificate. When first introduced by the Home Office the whole business was advisory, but as is depressingly usual a number of police forces have made the need for a medical opinion mandatory. However, that’s not the only obstacle for gun owners, because the British Medical Association (BMA) having first agreed that doctors should provide this information, then changed its mind.
The BMA is an interesting organisation, not the least because a vast swathe of the public is under the impression that it is a regulatory body, so for many when it makes a statement it seems to carry with it the sort of weight, that it would not were it more widely known that the BMA is in fact a trade union. And not just one of your run of the mill sort, but a very left of centre trade union whose junior doctors’ committee campaigned vigorously for a Jeremy Corbyn government. Given those obvious sympathies it would be therefore surprising were it to act in any way favourably towards an activity which the Labour party and all right thinking comrades regard as the privilege of a rich minority.
Fortunately, not all doctors share that view and one of them, Dr Chris Garrett, has founded ShootCert, a simple and low-cost way of allowing shooters to obtain the required medical checks should their own GP prove unwilling to help out or as some have found, required applicants to pay hefty fees for the privilege. The whole process at ShootCert is painless and costs £50. There are 4 simple steps involved and you can even have a trial run for free. www.shootcert.co.uk
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