Shotgun licensing to be overhauled by government

The Home Office has indicated that it intends to make changes to the licensing system for gun ownership, with results of a consultation due to be published “in due course”.

The full details are yet to be made public; however, policing and crime minister Sarah Jones has suggested a centralised licensing system could be established to help tackle long delays in the processing of applications by police forces.

MPs debated regulations on shotgun and firearms licences on Monday 23 February after the subject was triggered following an online petition.

See also: New shotgun licence rules tighten safety checks

The petition has amassed more than 120,000 signatories to date and calls for section 1 firearm and section 2 shotgun licensing to be kept separate.

Labour MP for South Norfolk Ben Goldsborough opened the Westminster Hall debate and set out the size of the industry, with roughly 500,000 gun owners in the UK, providing £3.3bn/year in gross value added to the UK economy.

Mr Goldsborough said: “At its heart, the debate is about balance. It is about recognising the legitimacy of lawful shooting and the economic and cultural contribution that it makes.”

Ms Jones added that the government remained open-minded about what would be the right course, and the need to strike the right balance.

“I cannot say I am an expert, but I absolutely understand the economic benefit and the need for the use of guns in this country,” she said.

“I want to make sure we have the best regime possible, and that is why we are conducting the consultation.”

Contributions 

The debate had a wide range of contributions with many rural MPs calling for firearms and shotgun licensing to be kept separate.

Sir Edward Leigh said shotguns were not just a sporting accessory, but were essential for farmers to control vermin.

Further comments from MPs included the need for guns to tackle crows pecking out lambs eyes.

Shadow farming minister Robbie Moore referred to a previous report on firearms by the Law Commission which did not recommend moving section 2 licences into the section 1 system.

He called for a focus on all the other measures such as tightening the existing control mechanisms, rather than on merging sections 1 and 2.

Several MPs also called for for an exemption for farmers for shotguns licenses from the merging of section 1 and 2 licences.