NI firearms licensing fees set to more than double

Tens of thousands of firearms certificate holders in Northern Ireland could soon see their licensing fees more than double.
The Department of Justice is currently consulting the public on proposals to raise all firearms licensing fees by an average of 153%, a move it says is needed to bring the system into full cost recovery after years of subsidy from mainstream police funding.
Under the proposals, the grant of a firearm certificate would rise from £98 to £250 and a variation by the Chief Constable from £30 to £77. Fees have not changed since 2016 and, according to the Department of Justice, current income covers only around 40% of the cost of running the service, leaving a shortfall of just under £2 million for 2025-26.
Roger Seddon, the Countryside Alliance’s shooting campaign manager, accused the Government of trying to “plug a financial gap caused by inadequate policy and practice in the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s firearms and explosives branch by unfairly delving into the pockets of rural people”. The Alliance has also questioned how the fees were calculated and has called for an inquiry into a backlog leaving many applicants waiting 18 months or more.
BASC’s Northern Ireland director Tommy Mayne said the organisation was “strongly opposed to any increase in fees without a full, independent, transparent review of the necessary processes within firearms licensing”. He called for any additional income to be ringfenced for licensing rather than absorbed into the wider policing budget.
Defending the proposals in the Northern Ireland Assembly on 12 May, Justice Minister Naomi Long MLA said: “I am aware of the concerns that people have regarding the increase in cost, but I would also remind people that when we are spending money and subsidising firearms licence applications, we’re taking it away from frontline policing services.”
With the consultation due to close on 29 May, and the minister showing no sign of retreat, around 54,000 certificate holders are waiting for a verdict. BASC and the Countryside Alliance have published guidance on their websites to assist shooters with their consultation responses.