Firearms: Licensing
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of merging (i) shotgun and (ii) rifle licensing systems on the backlog for firearms licensing.
Answered by Sarah Jones
The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. The Government response set out the reasons why the Government considers this consultation to be important, and we intend to publish this shortly.
We will carefully consider all of the views put forward in response to the consultation once it is published, before taking any decisions on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will also provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including to policing and to the business community in rural areas, at the relevant time.
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