What can I do? Have to re-do application.

Cernunnos3

Can anyone offer advice on this please, as I don't know what if anything I can do? Back on the 2nd of July, before the new licence system, my wife applied for a .22 mag rifle.:D She already has a semi-auto shotgun so there should be no issues there i.e. with pluse check, background etc. She got a phonecall today, 1 day before the end of the 3 month waiting to hear period, from the local garda saying he got a letter today from Dublin. The short version of this is that apparently her application will not be processed unless it is on the new application form!:mad: Now surely that cannot be right. the original application was submitted 2 months before the new/ current system was begun. no one said then that she would/should wait. no one knew exactly when the new system would start, baring any difficulties, selays, admin difficulties etc. If she has to put a new application in now God alone knows when it will be processed, as far as I'm aware we, in the North West have not yet begun processing the new application forms yet. HELP!!
Thank you all in advance, sorry for the rank but this just makes no sence to me and we're both very pi**ed off and frustrated with the situation.

Cernunnos3

cavan shooter

It may of been filled in 2 months before, but it maybe only be processed now, having sat on a desk for a while.

I suggest you ring the Firearms Policy Unit and ask what can be done??

Cass

After July 31st of this year the old system ceased to be. Therefore they could not issue you with any licence. If they did it would end on the 31st July to allow for your re-application under the new system. The Gardai messed up. Even if they didn't know how the new licencing system worked the least they could have done was tell you that the old one was dead and gone and to wait for the forms for the new system (FCA1) to be published.

Unfortunately you have no option but to apply again under the new system.

rrpc

+1 on what ezridax said.

The old application form is dead and unless it was processed before the extensions were done, you have no way of 'converting' from the old to the new system, so unfortunately it's a new application on the new form.

Anybody making an application during the transition period is in the same boat, it's not just you. All the advice was to hold off making appications until everything was sorted.

clivej

I applied for a license on 1st April 2009 and it sat somewhere until JAugust. No matter what I did it didn't go anywhere. In August it was all given the go ahead BUT then I had to complete it all again on the new form.

Now this was input into the new system as soon as it could have and now I'm waiting for the payment letter to come in the post before I get any license's. That's nearly 2 weeks now.

Cass

In a perfect world the Gardai would publish a notification to all shooting bodies, clubs, ranges, etc asking them to notify all members (and by word of mouth 99% of the non member population) that no new licence applications would be accepted for any firearm due to the introduction of the new licencing system. Also (in this perfect world) the new system would have been up and running by 31st July ready for new applications and not (8 weeks later) still trying to jump into life.

This as we all know did not happen and so we have all the problems we now face. Thing is (in defense of the Gardai) they were, and some still are, as much in the dark about the entire process as every applicant out there.

Cernunnos3 i know its a pain in the ass but you can go out get an FCA1 form, fill it in and submit it straight away. As a brand new application it can be lodged immmediately. As there is no extension you do not have to wait. If its for a .22mag i presume its for vermin, so get your FCA1, fill it in with all the necessary details, permissions etc and depending on the application traffic in your local station you could have a licence within a month or so (wishful thinking but you never know).

Best of luck either way.

Hairy Hunter

Cernunnos3-In the same boat,Its a pain in the ass- But when isn't it when dealing with firearm licencing.

HH

freddieot

Similar boat - When I left in my 3 applications, I mentioned substituting my 6.5 with a 308. The poor FO almost went into meltdown so It told him I would wait until the first load of sh*te was out of the way.

johngalway

freddieot wrote: »

Similar boat - When I left in my 3 applications, I mentioned substituting my 6.5 with a 308. The poor FO almost went into meltdown so It told him I would wait until the first load of sh*te was out of the way.

I wasn't so kind.

meathstevie

It should be crystal clear and simple in my opinion. If your application was made and accepted for processing before the new legislation came into force it should have been dealt with as "business as usual".

Cass

I hear what you're saying and you have a point. They could have processed it, charged the fee and issued the licence. It would have only been valid until 31st July but under the new system it would have been a re-application instead of a new one. Thing is (as you know) the Gardai would not have been able to do this if the application was submitted say July 3rd. Too short a time to process it plus the old system was wrapping up at this stage. The lads that applied say March, April would have a case for feeling hard done by. The Gardai will tell you its saving you money and get you to hold off or re-apply under the new system. Either way the old PC20 and licencing system are gone so re-application is the only option.

I got caught myself. I went to submit my application late June/early July. My FO told me he would run it through as in his words " i've heard nothing about this new 3 year thingy and i can't see it coming in for at least a year or 2". Anyway, he rang early August and said he was submitting under the new system so i had to fill in the FCA1. Done that. Now waiting for it. Total time so far 3-3.5 months and counting.

rrpc

meathstevie wrote: »

It should be crystal clear and simple in my opinion. If your application was made and accepted for processing before the new legislation came into force it should have been dealt with as "business as usual".

You might think so Stevie, but it's not the case.

The OP applied on 2nd July. That left exactly 29 days for the application to be processed; possible but not very likely, miraculous in fact .

Once the 1st August kicked in, so did all the new legislation including a new form, a new term for the licence and a myriad other things that were not catered for on the old system. The old form could no longer be processed in the system as it was no longer the 'prescribed form' in the legislation.

If the licence had been processed before the 31st July and a licence issued, it would have expired on the 31st July and a new FCA1 form would have to be completed for the new system from 1st August.

Plus an extension would have had to have been issued on the old licence to allow time for the new aplication to be processed.

clivej

just fill in the new application form and get on with it.

STOP moaning and do it. OR NOT.....................

ghostmantra

Cernunnos3. we are all in the same boat and to look foreword to it again in three years time:mad:..........

meathstevie

rrpc wrote: »

You might think so Stevie, but it's not the case.

The OP applied on 2nd July. That left exactly 29 days for the application to be processed; possible but not very likely, miraculous in fact .

Once the 1st August kicked in, so did all the new legislation including a new form, a new term for the licence and a myriad other things that were not catered for on the old system. The old form could no longer be processed in the system as it was no longer the 'prescribed form' in the legislation.

If the licence had been processed before the 31st July and a licence issued, it would have expired on the 31st July and a new FCA1 form would have to be completed for the new system from 1st August.

Plus an extension would have had to have been issued on the old licence to allow time for the new aplication to be processed.

I agree with you on the issue of practicality but is there any cover in a purely legal context to base a decission on law that wasn't in force at the time of the event ?

If that was the intention a legally binding decision should have been made by the MoJ and published temporarily stopping applications being accepted from a certain date until the new system was in force.

Think about this way :how can you apply a law that wasn't in force at the time of the event ?