Westminster, you’ve missed the point entirely

Petition smashes records

More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for shotgun and rifle licensing to remain separate – yet the Government has responded by reaffirming its intention to consult on merging the two systems.

The petition, launched on 11 December by Lisa Amers of GunTrader UK, passed the 100,000-signature threshold in just ten days, making it the fastest-growing shooting petition on record and triggering consideration of a parliamentary debate.

Christopher Graffius, BASC’s public affairs director, described the response as unprecedented. “I cannot recall, in all my years, another shooting petition that’s got anywhere close to this,” he told Sporting Gun.

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Government response falls short

Despite this, the Government’s formal response, published on 6 January, confirmed the Home Office remains “mindful” of cases in which legally held shotguns have been used in serious crime, including the Keyham shootings in Plymouth in 2021. It said public safety underpins its commitment to consult on bringing shotgun controls more into line with other firearms, while stressing that no final decisions have yet been made.

The response cited recommendations from the Keyham coroner, the Independent Office for Police Conduct and the Scottish Affairs Committee following a fatal shooting on Skye in 2022. It also referenced the Government’s ambition to halve knife crime over the next decade.

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BASC and NGO push back

BASC and the NGO, which represent many of those who signed the petition, have condemned the response as fundamentally flawed. “It demonstrates a misunderstanding of how firearms licensing operates and raises serious concerns that ministers are seeking to reduce the lawful private ownership of firearms,” BASC said, pointing out that the public safety test is already the same for shotgun and rifle certificate holders.

The NGO’s firearms adviser, Livia Brynin, added: “Public safety is about behaviour, judgment and competent licensing – not whether a shotgun sits in section 1 or section 2. Reclassification changes labels, not risk.”

Both organisations argue the Government has drawn the wrong lesson from Keyham. They say the case exposed deep-rooted failures in police firearms licensing – including poor decision-making, inadequate training and ineffective risk assessment – none of which would have been addressed by changing the legal classification of shotguns.

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Questionable references

They also questioned why knife crime featured in a response focused on lawful shotgun ownership. BASC described the reference as “bizarre” and “a worrying reminder of the attitudes that exist in parts of the Home Office towards the farmers, land managers, pest controllers and gamekeepers who rely on shotguns as essential tools of the trade”.

A parliamentary debate on the petition is expected, likely after the consultation closes but before ministers make a final decision. The consultation, promised by the end of last year, is now expected – at the time of writing – in January.