Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Earl Howe on 6 February 2019 (HL Deb, col 410GC), what was the outcome of the consultation on the .50 calibre rifles; and what plans they have, if any, to ban such rifles.

The Government ran a public consultation on a range of firearms safety issues between 24 November 2020 and 16 February 2021.

Amongst other issues, the consultation sought views on high muzzle energy rifles and whether enhanced security arrangements are necessary for these rifles to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Over 12,000 responses were received to the consultation. The Government is considering these responses carefully and will publish its response to the consultation in due course.