Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to (a) increase restrictions on (i) buying and (ii) importing antique firearms and (b) improve the monitoring of the ownership of those firearms.

The Government keeps the law and controls on antique firearms under review. The Antique Firearms Regulations 2021 provides a statutory definition of antique firearm in order to clarify which firearms can safely be exempt from firearms controls and which should be subject to licensing requirements.

We undertake a review of the firearms that are exempt from control annually, to assess whether any antique firearms feature in crime, with a full review of the Regulations every three years. The most recent review identified no need for further changes to the controls on buying, possession or importing of antique firearms at this time. The Government will not hesitate to take action in relation to any antique firearms if the evidence shows that this is necessary.

Since antique firearms are exempt from most firearms controls, including the need for licensing, we do not routinely monitor their ownership.