Digital gun licence system in NI ‘too difficult’ for elderly

BBC News NI has spoken to other gun owners who echoed sentiments expressed by the UFU.

One clay pigeon shooter who has dyslexia said he would not have been able to renew his licence since 2018 if it had not been for his wife.

“Anything to do with computers and I’m going to struggle,” he said.

“Back when you had to fill out physical forms, it was awkward, but I managed.”

The man, who did not want his name made public, said he was not the only member of his family who has found the transition difficult.

“My father, like many of his generation, is a pen and paper man,” he said.

“Before 2018, when he had to re-register, he would have sat down at the kitchen table for an hour or two, and that would have been that.

“In 2018, even though me, my wife and the local firearms officer all offered to help, he said he was so fed up with the whole thing that he wasn’t going to renew.”

He added: “He’s only in his early 60s and hunting has always been a big part of his life.”