James Aris: Why is Labour's approach to firearms licensing so divisive?

Firearms licensing is not the sexiest of subjects. It is technical and rather dry at times, but it is also one of the most important battles we face in the coming years. Gun ownership is the starting block of shooting, without which other issues barely matter. If people are priced out by fees, or it becomes more difficult to obtain firearms, then the whole system starts to crumble.

Firearms licensing has been thrown into the limelight recently due to an intervention from the Labour Leader, Sir Kier Starmer. During a radio interview, when he was asked about a horrific drive by shooting in London the former Director of Public Prosecutions told LBC: "We’ve had these incidents from time to time with guns, there was one down in Plymouth last year, and every time there is , there’s evidence, which I am concerned about, that people have access to guns that they shouldn’t have access to.

"Now with illegal access that’s a pure matter of criminal law. But other people where better checks should be taken on circulation of guns. So I think that we need to look again as to whether those laws are strong enough."

He added: "There are many illegally-owned guns out there and there are legally-owned guns, which I don’t think should be in the hands of the people who are legally owning them."

One can argue that he was not briefed properly, but one cannot argue that there is any justification for dragging legal gun ownership into a discussion about a shooting carried out with an illegally held gun which turned out to be linked to a Colombian cartel. What the comment does show is a wholesale lack of understanding of the UK firearms licensing system and the 540,000 legal gun owners in the UK.

Unfortunately, however, it does seem symptomatic of the Labour party to be uncomfortable with issues that are fundamental to the rural way of life. In my last article for Field Sports Journal I wrote of the pointless proposals in their last manifesto that attacked trail hunting, grouse shooting and game farming; and that by prioritising this sort of irrelevant prejudice, presumably to pander to Labour activists in Islington, it alienates rural voters whose focus is on the practical issues of accessing public services, levelling up the rural economy and getting through the cost of living crisis. Labour’s approach to firearms licensing is equally divisive. There is talk of shotguns being licensed under the stricter terms of Section 1 of the Firearms Act as other firearms such as rifles currently are and of ‘full cost recovery’ on licences which would see the cost of taking out a license or renewal rising hugely. This looks like bad politics when you delve into the demographic of the 540,000 gun owners in the UKs. The majority are middle of the road working men and women mainly in the sort of towns and rural areas where Labour has struggled to generate support in recent elections.

You would have thought that given Labour’s past performance in rural constituencies in recent elections they would be clambering over themselves to understand the needs of voters in the countryside rather than alienating them.

This article featured in the latest FieldSports Journal: Volume VI / Issue III