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Gun Trade Association: Simon West
THE FIREARMS LICENSING SYSTEM A trade insight into the National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS) from the Gun Trade Association's Simon West “THE National Firearms License Management System (NFLMS) is a computer system designed to record details of individuals who apply for fi ea ce t ficate the ce t ficate the e e and the fi ea and hotguns licensed to those people who hold ce t ficate Home Office NFLMS provides licensing departments in England and Wales with a bespoke computer programme and database for managing their daily work of licensing. It’s the computer part of the department capability. The computer depends on its operators and its operators depend on the computer. Both need to be functioning for the system to work. This overall performance capability has a direct impact on the lives of RFDs and our customers, the certificate holders The 1997 Firearms (Amendment) Act brought in the requirement for a central register ‘kept by means of a computer’. It was almost 10 years before the pilot systems were rolled out. Finally, the English and Welsh forces started using the system in 2007. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own systems. The system has had plenty of investment over the years but it is still software that’s over 15 years old. Any of you still using Windows XP? No. What does it do? “The NFLMS is a register of all persons who have applied for, or have been granted, a certificate to possess or acquire a firearm or shotgun. It is a webbased national register of all firearm certificate holders. The NFLMS updates the Police National Computer with details of individuals who own firearms and/or shotguns and records details of anyone who has been refused a certificate or had one revoked. In addition, the NFLMS maintains information on people, companies and dealers that have requested firearm and/or shotgun certificates. It also holds information on weapons and their history."
“ Any of you still using Windows XP? No.
What can we take from that? The reality is that it is a system for recording details of people—not guns. It is worth a reminder that the UK system is based on identifying an individual’s suitability to hold a certain type of firearm and then giving them authority through a certificate to possess that firearm that combination of personal suitability, good reason and security. NFLMS does have details of “information on weapons and their history” but only those held against a certificate and, through time, the arious certificates to which it has related. But it does not hold data on every gun in the UK, ust those that ha e appeared on certificates now or in the past. In parallel with NFLMS, the RFDs’ registers across the country hold the other half of that detail. Understanding that NFLMS is about people rather than guns is central to the whole process. The system records people that are deemed suitable to hold firearms (and those who have been refused). What does it do well? lthough the ome ffice themsel es report that “it is subject to the inaccura-
cies inherent in any large-scale recording system”, I will give it the credit that it has provided a foundation service that has survived the years. Where there have been major issues—like the South Yorkshire loss of 9,000 records—they have tended to be human errors. Like all computer systems, it is only as good as the data that it contains and the way it is operated. My worry is that many of the mistakes that do appear seem to be attributable to a lack of training on behalf of licensing staff or a ‘new policy’ that has been invented locally for no good reason. Just this month in Devon and Cornwall, renewed certificates ha e finally started appearing but without any of the gun details on them. A clear misunderstanding of NFLMS drills and a huge imposition on the RFD for relisting them and notifying. Of course, then only for the licensing department to have to rebook them all onto NFLMS! Bonkers. As designed, the system does well at tracking people. The data it holds on guns is less reliable. When the Met started trying to photograph every serial number on a gun, we knew there was a lack of confidence in their data
What doesn’t it do? ld software lacks fle ibility most of the original 2005 programmers will be long gone now! As legislation has changed, the machine can’t keep up. Where medical and other new records have to be kept changes have been made but some records—such as 'servants' are apparently not recorded on the system. The link between NFLMS and other police computers is also rather limited. By connecting intelligence systems to firearms licensing databases, law enforcement can identify and deal with risk at an earlier stage. Trials have already taken place where data from the police national computer is run past NFLMS listings and, if there are matches, the licensing manager is alerted to see if any more action is required. In the future we should e pect these systems to be more closely linked. So where from here? n arch , the ome ffice started engaging with the IT industry to seek options for a replacement. It was offering £20 million, but little has been heard since. Certainly, there is no new system on the horizon. What would it look like? any of us ha e asked for certificates to be credit card sized and checkable on a centralised system for validity and ‘slots’ notification complete before the holder left the shop. There are many who would also like to see registers online where there could be huge efficiencies for the he ome ffice and law enforcement are keen, so that they can monitor all guns, all the time. But many of the trade see that as an imposition, open to police abuse and a friction when connecting to other accounting programmes, stock databases etc. There is still some debate to be had and The ome ffice ha e promised collaboration before any new system is designed. Watch this space. GTN