Consultancy
One-to-one expert intervention when things go wrong. Refusals, revocations, delays, surrenders and everything in-between — we take it on and fight your corner until it is resolved.
Membership
Preventative protection from £1 a month. A growing library of bespoke expert content plus the ability to ask questions directly and keep your certificate safe for the future.
Who we are & what we do for you
The UK’s leading independent firearms licensing consultancy
FirearmsLicensing.net uses extensive, real-world operational insight into police licensing to resolve certificate issues quickly, professionally and effectively. We provide expert intervention when problems arise and structured guidance to stop issues developing in the first place.
Most importantly — we solve firearms licensing problems. Fast. Professionally. With results that speak for themselves.

30+ yrs
Frontline & specialist policing experience
Consultancy — our core service
Shooters come to us with
issues that feel impossible
If any of these sound familiar, you’re not alone — and you don’t have to face it by yourself.
This is exactly what our consultancy exists to fix.
Rejected medical forms
Historic mental health concerns
Long delays
Refusals & revocations
“Voluntary” surrenders
Safeguarding complications
Temporary permit failures
Forces that won’t engage
How consultancy works
A clear path from
problem to resolution
No jargon, no runaround. Just a straightforward, expert-led process built around getting you the right result.
Get in touch
We assess
We act
Resolution

Chris Downs
Founder & specialist
The Solution
Built by a former national
firearms licensing lead
Chris Downs has over 25 years of frontline and specialist policing experience, including senior roles in Firearms Operations and as Firearms Licensing Manager for the Metropolitan Police.
As a Subject Matter Expert at the College of Policing, he led national improvements in firearms licensing — developing training, tools and guidance. While in post, he saw evidence of poor practice and injustice, and a system that had lost sight of its purpose and evidence base.
He created FirearmsLicensing.net to put that expertise on your side — helping people understand their rights, navigate the system, and avoid unnecessary refusals or revocations.
Certificate holders overseen
Something else
Something else here
Membership — preventative protection
Safeguard your
certificate for the future
Prevention beats cure. From just £1 a month, membership gives you a continually updated library of bespoke content,
expert opinion and the ability to ask questions directly — so problems never get the chance to start.
£12 /year
- Access to all articles
- Suggest Content
- Digital Members Card
Application support(Grant & Renewal)Ask QuestionsPhysical Members CardDirect Consultations
£50 /year
- Application support
- (Grant & Renewal)
- Access to all articles
- Suggest Content
- Digital Members Card
- Ask Questions
Physical Members CardDirect Consultations
£100 /year
- Application support
- (Grant & Renewal)
- Access to all articles
- Suggest Content
- Digital Members Card
- Ask Questions
- Physical Members Card
- Direct Consultations
Not sure which is right for you? Talk to us and we’ll point you in the right direction.
Shooting & Hunting Academy
We are proud to partner with the Shooting & Hunting Academy, an organisation whose commitment to professionalism, safety and sector standards mirrors our own.
Together, we’re creating a pathway that supports shooters not only in developing their knowledge and skills, but also in demonstrating responsible, competent practice to licensing authorities.
Through this partnership, anyone who books the PDS1 or DMC3 course using our dedicated links, below, will receive a full year of Complete Membership to FirearmsLicensing.net – free of charge.
Sharpen your capability with the Academy, protect your certificate with us.
Results that speak for themselves
Don’t take our word for it
Excellent service contacted on 4th March and had my renewal certificate in less than four weeks. I have no doubt it would still be in the “to do list” without assistance from Chris.
Thank you. Highly recommended
Chris responded to my initial contact in a timely manner and we scheduled a call for the next day.
My enquiry was actually a bit of a curveball and not directly a licensing query, however his knowledge was invaluable and combined with a bit logic and common sense he came up with a solution that seems to fit the needs of the situation.
He also gave a bit of extra advice about an unrelated licensing related question which again was very helpful taking a potentially convoluted and ambiguous situation and breaking it down into a few simple steps.
I thoroughly recommend reaching out to Chris if you have any hesitation or concerns about your licensing process.
Chris handled the situation incredibly quickly and with real professionalism. What stood out most was his empathy, he genuinely took the time to understand what was going on and approached everything with care and respect. He communicated clearly throughout and made a difficult situation feel much more manageable, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him.
I was having trouble renewing my shotgun license
I kept being issued a temporary license for over 14 months I got in touch with Chris who spoke to the licensing authority on my behalf and my full license was issued within a few weeks
I cannot thank Chris enough as it was a very stressful time for me
Spoke to Chris when I had an issue with a variation, super long delays and some odd communications coming from the Police due to a separate issue with the area. very quick response time and was always happy to take calls and questions
Chris represented me to the police and arrange to have my FAC returned within a couple weeks, after I’d been waiting for eight already!
100% recommended, and will be using FirearmsLicensing.net again in the future if another issue comes up
Had issues with my firearms dept not issuing a section 7 with no good reason and told I needed to lodge them which would have been a huge cost, contacted firearmslicensing.net and they got in touch the next day and sent an email to my firearms dept. The day after I was issued a section 7. Couldn’t be happier with the quick results.
As a member of the UKPSA Chris has been supporting our members.
He took over communication with the licencing team, 2 weeks later I got a call and they are doing my ticket (said 2 weeks).
It was in on time (3months, with medical), given a 8 week extension, then told it was my responsiblity to store once it ran out.
Still fingers crossed it will arrive on time.
Chris has recently been giving me guidance and support on my long running grant application. His knowledge on policy, procedure and interpretation is second to none. He spent the time to fully understand the concerns and provided detailed analysis and advice. He followed up regularly and when promised. Couldn’t recommend Chris enough and he will certainly be my first port of call when things progress with my application in the future. Thanks Chris!
Phenominal service, above and beyond
I can’t think of the words to describe how grateful I am to this company!!
Firstly amazing communication and phenomenal service,
9 years i spent trying to get my licence back and I just kept getting pushed back and told, ‘its being reviewed’ after 9years of this on repeat I went to this team and less than 3months and my licence is in my hand!
I was kept updated through the entire process and everything explained to me thoroughly, were a family of clay shooters and this certificate meant more than just ‘having my licence’
The work they do is the best and I will continue to stay with this team forever now!! Thankyou for everything
My husband has an ongoing issue regarding his FAC, and as part of this wider matter, conditions were placed on my SGC. We were advised to engage Chris to assist my husband by liaising with all parties involved. Before Chris became involved, we had no idea how to approach the matter with the police or what options were available to us. When Chris wrote to the police to begin discussions regarding my husband’s FAC, he also raised the issue of the external storage of my shotguns. At the time, his view was essentially “let’s see what happens.” Just nine days later, we received confirmation that I could remove my shotguns from storage.
What can I say about Chris? His approach is always professional yet friendly. He takes the time to explain every step of the process and keeps you informed throughout. He is honest and realistic about expectations while remaining supportive and approachable. As a client, you feel well informed, supported, and genuinely listened to.
Chris achieved more for us in the first four weeks of working together than a lawyer provided through my husband’s membership had managed in two years. We would not hesitate to recommend his services.
I wanted some advice regarding historic health matters and how this would affect my FAC & SGC renewal.
I spoke to Chris and was so glad I did. He was extremely knowledgeable about the legislation, but on top of that, very reassuring.
He’s very compassionate and clearly loves what he does.
The offer of help and advice at any point is worth its weight in gold.
Chris has provided invaluable advice and support in my efforts to obtain a new firearms license after my previous one had lapsed several years ago.
He has deep knowledge and understanding of the law and how to navigate the firearm licensing process.
I urge anyone who has questions about obtaining a license or needs advice to reach out to Chris.
Thanks for your time today and the clarity that you gave me around the application process.
I think that what you are doing is really relevant and important for our community
We live in a world where so few people take pride in their work. That’s definitely not an accusation that can be thrown at you!
The support I received from the team was phenomenal. The timescales were realistic and met above and beyond my initial expectations.
Thank you for being so straightforward!!!
Super professional. Super Supportive. Written in a way that will really help the community. 5 mins reading and I’d found the answer
There is a desperate need for this site. Very specific knowledge and understanding of a very complicated and nuanced area. The ease of accessing what you require and having it presented in an understandable manner is possibly one of the sites strongest point.
This app provides clear and concise advice from someone who has worked within the system for many years and what’s more? It’s a written in a clear and straightforward style that makes it easy to comprehend. I can’t recommend firearmslicensing.net highly enough.
I’m so glad I’ve finally found this resource. I’ve tried reading the government guidance and like a lot of those documents, the number of linguistic somersaults and contradictions leave one totally confused. I’ve now got an expert in my pocket 24/7.
Got a problem now?
Let’s get it fixed
Tell us what’s happening and we’ll come back to you fast with a clear, honest view of where you stand and what we can do. If we can’t answer straight away, we always call back.