Character reference

Ubbquittious

I applied for a restricted license not so long ago and now I'm being told one of the character references I gave was no good because it's a family member - no big deal I just have to nominate another one.



Anyone heard of this before? I don't think it was mentioned on any form or anywhere and I have been a character reference myself for a family member for donkey's years without any problem.

The pigeon man

Ubbquittious wrote: »

I applied for a restricted license not so long ago and now I'm being told one of the character references I gave was no good because it's a family member - no big deal I just have to nominate another one.



Anyone heard of this before? I don't think it was mentioned on any form or anywhere and I have been a character reference myself for a family member for donkey's years without any problem.

That's a load of rubbish, the only person you're not allowed use as a character referee that I'm aware of is a Garda.

solarwinds

Same thing happened to me i told them the same, it did not say anywhere you could not use family. My thinking would be who knows you better, your family or someone who knows you under limited circumstances. I gave 2 others and they actually rang them, first time in over 20 years a reference was rang.

scwazrh

I used my wife and father on my application submitted 6 months ago and no issue.

SeaFields

I've always used the same two people - my father and uncle. Never any issues

J.R.

The pigeon man wrote: »

That's a load of rubbish, the only person you're not allowed use as a character referee that I'm aware of is a Garda.

That's what it says on the application form

gunhappy_ie

Ubbquittious wrote: »

I applied for a restricted license not so long ago and now I'm being told one of the character references I gave was no good because it's a family member - no big deal I just have to nominate another one.



Anyone heard of this before? I don't think it was mentioned on any form or anywhere and I have been a character reference myself for a family member for donkey's years without any problem.

Welcome to the Dark Side :P

Yes .... I had the same issue in the last month. Only I was told that it couldnt be a relative, Garda, RFD and I must know them more than 5 years.

It wasn't an issue but what I find funny is that your hardly going to give a name of a person that will tell them that your not suitable !

solarwinds

I even went as far as getting 2 people who have nothing to do with any form of shooting or hunting, so they couldn't come back to me 6 months later saying they wouldn't accept them either because they would be biased.

dc99

I've had my references phoned on two occasions, both for a pistol, but in the time between the first pistol and the second I applied for a rifle and no checks on reference were made for the rifle...
I'm not sure why they checked the second pistol as I still had the first one on a license. (like i'm the same person already with one - will a second invalidate my references??)

Nekarsulm

dc99 wrote: »

I've had my references phoned on two occasions, both for a pistol, but in the time between the first pistol and the second I applied for a rifle and no checks on reference were made for the rifle...
I'm not sure why they checked the second pistol as I still had the first one on a license. (like i'm the same person already with one - will a second invalidate my references??)

It seems to be a bit like the "Garda Vetting" for working in voluntary organisations etc.
If you take on a position in the Scouts, you must be Garda vetted. If you work with some other group as well, say a Kayak club, you must be vetted again. If you get a full time job as a teacher the week after, you need to go through vetting again. It's not transferable, every application needs a seperate vetting process.

Ubbquittious

Finally got the license :D:D It must have been around November when I started applying

The pigeon man

Ubbquittious wrote: »

Finally got the license :D:D It must have been around November when I started applying

I'd get a better reference in future if I was you to speed up the process

Heckler

The whole character reference thing is a joke.

Some don't accept family ? Who knows you better than family ? !

Nobodys gonna put down a character ref thats gonna reflect badly on them. Its a completely pointless box ticking exercise.

I have a former employer whos a game shooter and a sibling as references. No hassle so far.

Neither were contacted.

Ubbquittious

The pigeon man wrote: »

I'd get a better reference in future if I was you to speed up the process

It wasnt the reference that caused the most delay but the requirement that I come in to see the guard dealing with the application for a chat. They were never around when I was and the guard at the reception never really knew who it was I had to go to.

solarwinds

I'd get a better reference in future if I was you to speed up the process [/quote]

For 20 years I used the same family members as references, never a problem and they were never contacted. I had the unfortunate experience of having to move which brought me under a different Super and no matter what you do its never enough until such time as they think they have messed you around enough to grant the licence. Nearly 2 years now trying to get my ammo allowance back to what it was, almost a year on a new application which had the allowance I wanted. And I was told I was lucky. Again it all depends where you are located and who you have to deal with. My last super told me if I had sufficient reason I could licence whatever I wanted no problem, and I did. But now in the new jurisdiction I have been asked to justify what I already have. Very frustrating dealing with people who have so much leeway in how laws are interpreted it should be black and white thats it, you qualify for a licence or not and the same should apply no matter where you live.

The pigeon man

Ubbquittious wrote: »

It wasnt the reference that caused the most delay but the requirement that I come in to see the guard dealing with the application for a chat. They were never around when I was and the guard at the reception never really knew who it was I had to go to.

I'm glad to hear you're sorted. Thankfully any garda at my station will take it now but I remember in the past trying to find the garda that processes applications. He always seemed to be on holidays or in the court.