Police chiefs today defended cost-cutting plans which could see changes to the way checks are carried out on gun owners. At least three forces aim to abandon automatic home checks when gun owners apply to renew firearms licences. Police in Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire say ending blanket home visits would save money and time but would not "impact on public safety". Essex Police said they planned to write to gun owners to check that circumstances had not... (GunPolicy.org)