Tim Bonner: Don’t blame the law - help us fix the system

The dry language of the government’s announcement that it is to consult on “aligning the controls on shotguns with other firearms” cannot hide what could be the most wide ranging and restrictive changes to gun ownership for 30 years. Licensing shotguns as Section 1 firearms would have a devastating impact on the entire shooting world. It would add massively to the bureaucracy of gun ownership, reduce the number of licence holders and create a significant new barrier to entry for all forms of shotgun shooting.

All this comes from the government’s desire to reduce the incidence of lethal misuse of licensed firearms, but it does not address the fundamental problem, which is the licensing system, not the law. The horrific killings in Plymouth in 2021 carried out by a licensed shotgun owner are referenced as justification for changing the status of shotguns, but that appalling incident was the result of shocking failures in licensing procedures, not of any weakness in the law. 

The perpetrator should never have been granted a shotgun certificate in the first place; that certificate was withdrawn when he was investigated for an assault and then returned to him after he received a caution for battery. No law can protect the public if it is not implemented and as the inquest jury found,  there were “catastrophic failures” and a “seriously unsafe culture” in Devon and Cornwall Police’s firearms licensing unit.

The Alliance is determined that everything that can be done to stop guns being owned by the wrong people should be done. The evidence very clearly shows that the fundamental issue is an archaic and dangerously inconsistent system of 43 separate licensing bodies.

If the government is concerned about improving public safety it should, therefore, first be looking to create a single, centralised firearms licensing body with full digitisation to replace the current outdated system. An effective body like the DVLA would improve public safety, provide a consistent service for gun owners and allow police forces to focus on law enforcement, rather than licensing – a function they were never set up to deliver. 

However, politicians like to believe that the relatively easy job of changing the law - rather than the difficult one of tackling entrenched cultures - delivers results. Added to that is the limited understanding of the scale and importance of gun ownership amongst many in the parliamentary Labour Party and the current government. 

There are 540,000 shotgun owners in Great Britain which means that about one in every 50 households contains a certificate holder. Many MPs, even some of those in rural constituencies, however, have little understanding of the scale of gun ownership or its importance to society and the economy.

Consultations carried out by governments tend to be an exercise in confirming their direction of travel rather than any real attempt to collate opinion. That is why we are asking you to lobby your MP before the new firearms consultation is launched. If that consultation does not focus on the underlying failure of the licensing system it will not achieve the aim of improving public safety. 

Please contact your MP using our online tool and help us send a strong message to Parliament and the government.