Farmers urged to act ahead of consultation restricting gun ownership
1st May 2025
The Countryside Alliance is urging the farming community to take part in a new easy-to-complete e-lobby as part of its campaign to safeguard the future of shooting in England, Scotland and Wales.
The government is preparing to consult on restricting shotgun ownership by aligning parts of firearms licensing legislation. The Alliance warns this would have huge impacts on the farming community, the rural economy and conservation, without improving public safety.
The e-lobby concerns only residents of England, Wales, and Scotland. Northern Ireland is subject to a different firearms licensing framework, to which this e-lobby and government consultation do not apply.
The Alliance explained that the full alignment would place a “massive additional administrative burden” on police firearms licensing units, reduce shotgun ownership by placing a significant financial and logistical burden on certificate holders, as well as damage some of the most marginal communities in rural Britain.
‘One in every 50 households contains a certificate holder’
The Alliance argues that while the government is rightly concerned with improving public safety, the alignment of Section 2 shotguns with more highly powered Section 1 firearms will not achieve that end.
The same rigorous character suitability, background and medical requirements must already be met to own either a Section 2 shotgun or Section 1 firearm.
A spokesperson for Countryside Alliance said that full alignment would simply require a huge increase in bureaucracy, without any guarantee of a reduction in any inappropriate gun ownership. Sadly, the primary factor in many instances where legally held guns have been misused is a failure of the licensing authorities, not the law, the group added.
The Alliance has also argued that if the government is concerned about improving public safety, it should first be looking to create a single, centralised firearms licensing body with full digitisation to replace the current outdated system involving 43 separate licensing authorities in Britain, which urgently needs updating.
The body should be akin to the DVLA or DBS, which 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. Shotgun and firearms licences should be digitised in a central database to allow real-time checking by dealers and private sellers.
Roger Seddon, a spokesman at the Countryside Alliance, concluded: “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.
“We need you and anybody you know that supports shooting to take part in our quick and easy e-lobby. MPs must understand the strength of feeling among our community prior ahead of this consultation”.
To contact your MP, please visit www.countryside-alliance.org/firearms-licensing-2025
READ MORE: Toughening shotgun ownership restrictions may have huge impact on farming
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