The shooting community’s fastest-growing petition on record has prompted a formal Government response, with ministers reiterating public safety concerns ahead of a forthcoming consultation on aligning shotgun and rifle licensing controls.
A petition opposing Labour’s plans to merge shotgun and rifle licensing reached over 100,000 signatures in just 10 days. Launched on 11 December by Lisa Amers of GunTrader UK, it called on Parliament to debate proposals to bring Section 2 (shotgun) licensing more in line with Section 1 (rifle) licensing. The petition hit the parliamentary threshold on 21 December, triggering consideration by the House of Commons Petitions Committee.
The petition runs separately from the Home Office consultation on the same proposals, which was expected by the end of last year but is now anticipated shortly. Supporters said the petition was intended to demonstrate opposition before the consultation opens.
In its official response, the Government acknowledged that shotguns and firearms are used for “a range of legitimate purposes” including target shooting and hunting, and said “the vast majority are used safely and responsibly”. It also recognised that shooting contributes to the rural economy.
However, ministers argued that legally held shotguns have been used in “a number of homicides and other incidents in recent years”, citing the fatal shootings in Keyham, Plymouth, in August 2021. The statement said this was the reason the Government committed to holding a public consultation on strengthening shotgun licensing controls “in the interests of public safety”.
The Government said the consultation commitment was announced on 13 February 2025, when it published its response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation run by the previous Government.
Ministers also pointed to external recommendations to tighten shotgun controls, including a coroner’s Preventing Future Deaths report issued in May 2023 following the Plymouth inquest. It also referenced recommendations from the Independent Office for Police Conduct after its investigation into the Keyham shootings, as well as similar calls from the Scottish Affairs Committee following a fatal shotgun shooting in Skye in August 2022.
The Government said the consultation will be published shortly and stressed that “no decisions have yet been made” on whether changes will be required or what form they may take. It added that views submitted during the consultation will be considered before any further action is decided, and that an impact assessment would be produced in the usual way if changes are taken forward.
Public safety, ministers added, remains the priority, linking the firearms review to the Government’s wider Safer Street Mission, including an aim to halve knife crime over the next decade through prevention, enforcement and strengthened legislation.
BASC has backed the petition publicly and urged supporters to continue engaging with MPs ahead of the consultation. Christopher Graffius, BASC’s public affairs director, previously described the petition response as unprecedented. “I cannot recall, in all my years, another shooting petition that’s got anywhere close to this,” he told Shooting Times. “It demonstrates how much our community cares about the issue.”
Conor O’Gorman, BASC’s head of policy and campaigns, has also encouraged supporters to write to MPs alongside signing the petition, arguing that engagement is already increasing political pressure and urging shooters to participate fully when the consultation opens.