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Reader Survey >Firearms licensing performance falls for a fourth quarter in a row
- Last updated: 24/08/2026
New NPCC data shows service standards slipping again as temporary permits surge 83% over five quarters, and the BSSC warns that licensing departments are under stress.
Firearms licensing performance has now slipped for four quarters running. The National Police Chiefs’ Council’s latest quarterly data puts national service level performance at 70.21%, down from 70.67%, and the British Shooting Sports Council published its reading of the figures on 8 August.
The Q1 2026/27 release covers the 12 months to 30 June 2026 and measures forces against the service level aspiration of completing an application within four months of receipt. Performance against that standard has fallen in each of the last four quarters.
Temporary permits tell the same story. Issued to keep shooters lawfully in possession while their paperwork is processed, they rose 11.5% on the previous quarter to 3,449, and are 83% higher than they were five quarters ago.
On the permits, the umbrella body said it “remains concerned that the rise in issuance of permits reflects licensing departments under stress”.
On the new split between grants and renewals, which it has welcomed, it warned that “a single blended SLA figure can mask much slower performance on new applications than on renewals”.
For the first time, grants and renewals are reported separately, a change the BSSC has pressed for. New applicants are the group with most to lose from a long wait, because they cannot shoot at all until a certificate is granted, and a single blended figure hides them behind the renewals.
The certificate-holder base has continued its steady decline as well, down 2.8% since Q3 2025/26.
The data comes out quarterly, so the next release will show whether the four-month standard holds up through the autumn renewal season. Force-by-force tables are in the NPCC’s published data, and the BSSC’s analysis is on its own website.
Forces aim to complete firearm and shotgun certificate applications within four months of receiving them. National performance against that aspiration slipped from 70.67% to 70.21% in the latest quarter, the fourth fall in a row.
It keeps a certificate holder lawfully in possession of their guns while a renewal or application is being processed. Issuance reached 3,449 in the latest quarter, 83% up over five quarters, which the BSSC reads as a sign that licensing departments are under stress.
It is falling. The NPCC data shows the certificate-holder base down 2.8% since the third quarter of 2025/26, continuing a steady decline.
Applying for your firearms certificate – what the process involves before the clock starts.
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The firearms law handbook – the legislation behind the licensing system.
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