Hot on many people’s lips and social media feeds at the moment is the government’s upcoming consultation on shotgun licensing legislation, which is expected to contain proposals to align shotgun licensing with that for firearms such as rifles.

The government announced in February 2025 that this consultation would happen at some point in 2025. Although previous government statements on timeline insisted that the consultation would be launched by the end of 2025, such language has been dropped in recent weeks. Indeed, it is now significantly more likely that the consultation will be launched in January 2026, with Christmas recess for the House of Commons from 19 December 2025 to 6 January 2026. What’s important is that we’re all ready to react when that launch happens: sign up to the Campaign for Shooting newsletter to stay up to date – we’ll send a special bulletin when the consultation opens. 

When the government launches its consultation, which is expected to last between eight and 12 weeks, the Countryside Alliance will analyse the consultation with a fine-tooth comb, preparing our response and model answers which we will then share with you, to use too. This won’t take long, and there will be plenty of time for all to respond. As soon as our suggested responses are ready, we will email all those signed up to the aforementioned newsletter mailing list with a guide of how best to respond to this consultation for the future of shooting.  

The expected proposal of alignment with firearms would bestow a considerable additional administrative burden upon police firearms licensing units, which are already stretched to capacity. The financial and logistical burden on gun owners and traders would likewise be substantial and would cause significant damage to the rural economy, conservation efforts and communities across the country, but especially in the more remote parts of Britain. 

What matters in terms of public safety is that anyone having access to any type of firearm is a fit and proper person who poses no risk to the public or themselves. The law is already the same for background, suitability and medical checks conducted by licensing authorities in advance of issuing licences, whether Section 1 firearms or Section 2 shotgun. Therefore, alignment of Section 2 with Section 1 would not improve public safety. It was ‘serious failure’ by the police licensing department that was at the root of the Plymouth shooting and the Prosper murders were enabled by an outdated system for recording all types of firearms transactions. 

As part of any changes to the status of Section 2 shotguns, a single, centralised firearms licensing body, with full digitisation should be created to replace the current 43 separate licensing authorities in England and Wales. Shotgun and firearms licences and certificates should be digitised in a central database to allow real-time, point-of-sale checking by dealers and private sellers.