Spooks hold up renewals

Unlike many parts of the UK, shooters in Northern Ireland generally get better than average service when it comes to licence applications and renewals. The Firearms Branch of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is regarded as both courteous and efficient in its dealings with the shooting public. Alas, a new directive has now introduced significant delays to the process, because the PSNI must now forward all paperwork to MI5’s operations centre in Hollywood, Co. Down. This is a disappointing turn of events for firearms owners in the Province, made all the more so by the possibility that in due course something similar may be in store for shooters in the rest of the country.