Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of aligning Section 2 shotgun licensing with Section 1 firearms licensing on (a) participation in shooting sports and (b) rural businesses; whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of alternative measures to improve public safety and licensing consistency; and what evidence base informed the decision to consult on merging these licensing regimes.

The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. The Government response set out the reasons why the Government considers this consultation to be important, and we intend to publish this shortly.