Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of forged shotgun licences used to purchase shotguns in England in the last five years.

Data on the number of forged firearms certificates used to purchase shotguns in England is not collected centrally. The law is clear on the sales of shotguns that a purchaser must hold the appropriate firearms certificate and transactions must comply with the relevant legal requirements and police procedures in place. The Government is considering what further action may be needed to strengthen the controls on the private sale of firearms and shotguns by licence holders.