Fall in number of certificate holders

Latest figures published by the Home Office have revealed a drop in the number of firearms and shotgun certificate holders in England and Wales.

As of March this year, 539,212 people held a certificate. This is down from 586,351, a fall of 47,139 (or 8%), from March 2020, the start of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK.

Unsurprisingly, police force firearms-licensing departments came in for criticism, not least from BASC. It highlighted that 18 forces were taking over 100 days to turn around applications, with some taking up to a year. BASC criticised them for failing to allocate adequate resources to reduce the backlog that built up due to the pandemic.

Martin Parker, BASC’s head of firearms, said: “These delays are impacting our grassroots and the next generation of shooters. As well as firearms being necessary for wildlife and pest management, shooting is also an Olympic and Commonwealth sporting discipline. This restriction on new athletes coming into the sport is becoming increasingly damaging. The requirement to uphold public safety is paramount, but that should not come at the expense of a popular and competitive sport.”

Simon West, executive director of the

Gun Trade Association, said that he was “concerned for the trade where threats to cash flow in small businesses have direct impacts on jobs and livelihoods”.

The figures also revealed a 26% increase in revocations of firearms certificates, to 385, and a 9% increase in those of shotgun certificates, to 1,075 – both from the previous year.

Devon and Cornwall Police more than doubled its revocations to 131, perhaps explicable in the wake of the mass shooting in Plymouth last August that saw five people murdered before the gunman turned his shotgun on himself. • Digital markers are to be placed on the medical records firearms and shotgun certificate holders in England. The system will be rolled out across the country and alert GPs if a holder has a relevant medical condition of concern.