Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's timetable is for publishing its planned consultation on bringing the licensing of shotguns under Section 2 of the Firearms Act 1968 in line with the licensing requirements under Section 1 of that Act.

The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February this year, 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. We intend to publish this consultation later this year.