2026 is set to be a significant year for the future of shooting from a legislative perspective, with the government looking at issues that are likely to change shooting significantly and with lasting impact. 

Shotgun Licensing Consultation 

The government announced in February 2025 that it would conduct a consultation on aligning controls on Section 2 shotguns with those for Section 1 firearms. We are expecting this consultation to launch imminently.  

The Countryside Alliance rejects the need for any greater alignment of these controls – the suitability checks are already the same and there would be no improvement to public safety. If the consultation did herald greater alignment, the negative impact on shooting would be great; police licensing bodies have a much greater administrative burden and many shooting people would give up, leading to direct losses to the conservation, social and economic benefits that shooting brings. 

When the consultation launches, the Countryside Alliance will prepare its responses which we will share for all to use. It is crucial for the very future of shooting that as many shooting people as possible take part in this consultation. 

Lead legislation 

This summer we are expecting the government to finalise and legislate on the timeline for the restriction of the sale and use of lead shot in Britain. The legislation is expected to provide a further three years before it will be an offence to use shotgun cartridges loaded with lead shot in England, Scotland and Wales. This timeline is not expected to change. Headlines that the timeline is three years should be considered with full context; a three-year transition from this summer will see lead shot banned from the 2029 season onwards – with 12 August 2029 coming four years and eight months after the Health and Safety Executive made the final recommendation to Defra of a five-year transition. 

Rifle ammunition of .243 calibre and above will be banned for live quarry shooting on the same timeline. All air-gun and rifle ammunition of calibres under .243 will face no restrictions. 

General Licences 

This season has been worse than the previous one for cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. Natural England and the Minister will soon have to decide whether or not they will issue General Licence 45, which permits the release of pheasant and red-legged partridge on Special Protection Areas, having withheld it in 2025.

Likewise, General Licence 43, which permits the same on Special Areas of Conservation, will be due for reissuing or perhaps withheld in late spring / early summer. The Countryside Alliance will continue to be engaged with Natural England. 

Sound moderators deregulation 

In December 2025, the House of Lords considered an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, prepared by the Countryside Alliance, which sought to deregulate sound moderators, which are currently treated in law as exactly the same as Section 1 rifles – needlessly so. 

Our amendment was supported by the Conservatives and Lib Dems, and the government spokesman was sympathetic to the amendment, which is in line with government plans. An amendment to the same end, prepared by the government, is expected to be put forward at the next stage of the Bill, which commences in February. It is also expected that the Bill will be passed before the King’s speech, which is pencilled in for the 12 or 13 May. If nothing is derailed, we may see sound moderators deregulated in the second quarter of this year, which will lift a significant and unnecessary administrative burden from police firearms licensing units, without any increase of risk to public safety. 

Animal welfare strategy 

Defra published its Animal Welfare Strategy shortly before Christmas 2025. Within this were items that could greatly and directly impact game shooting and its concurrent conservation efforts.  

The strategy includes a ban on so called “snare traps” (a Labour manifesto commitment), which may encompass humane restraints - a vital tool used by farmers, gamekeepers and conservationists to control predators in a humane and targeted manner when other options are not practicable. Larsen traps and “older spring traps” are also to be reviewed for their animal welfare impact, the use of which is already strictly regulated by General Licence. The government has also pledged to consider how it will “bring forward and introduce a close season for hares”. 

The government will also consider the ‘code of practice for the welfare of gamebirds reared for sporting purposes’ as part of their strategy. This code has not been updated for several years and the government has said that it wants to “improve their understanding” of the subject through a call for evidence. 

The government has said it will consult with stakeholders on these and other elements within the strategy, and we will continue to work closely with them to ensure that any changes in legislation are based on science and evidence, and that they are both workable and proportionate. The timeline for this has not yet been announced. 

Wales 

The Welsh Senedd election is due to be held on 7 May 2026, the result of which may have an impact on game shooting in Wales. In the event of a so-called rainbow coalition, where several parties from the centre and left form a coalition, there may be a result where political horse trading impacts shooting – as was seen with the current bill going through the Senedd seeking to ban greyhound racing. 

An issue that may be raised in such an outcome is the call for a blanket licensing scheme for gamebird release. In November 2023, the quango Natural Resources Wales (NRW) recommended that the Welsh Government should implement such a scheme for the 2025/26 season. Initially intended for the 2024/25 season, the delay to the 2025/26 was caused by the colossal number of responses to the NRW consultation, with over 12,900 Alliance supporters signing and completing our e-campaign. Whilst Welsh Labour have confirmed their desire to move forward with a “robust licencing scheme”, they are running out of political time to do anything in this Senedd term. 

Scotland 

Also on 7 May 2026 is the Scottish Parliament election, which may result in shooting coming under threat if more seats go to the Green party, which has repeatedly attacked game shooting in Holyrood since the last Scottish Parliamentary election. Current polling as of December 2025 suggests SNP will win with 63 seats, just below the number needed for a majority, so it is likely they will need to once again seek cross-party support to form a coalition government. 

In Holyrood we will see the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill progress to the final Stage 3 early this year, and will complete before the May election. A number of potentially unhelpful amendments at Stage 2 concerning the licensing of grouse shooting, muirburn and deer management were considered and accepted, However further cross-party work is required ahead of Stage 3 on some of these amendments. Amendments tabled by Green MSP Lorna Slater calling for the licensing of gamebird release have already been rejected. More can be read on the details of this Bill here.