There are occasions when the mood of an industry becomes impossible to ignore. This year’s British Shooting Show was one of them.
Walking the halls at the NEC Birmingham across the weekend, the scale of attendance was immediately apparent. Visitors arrived in steady waves from the moment the doors opened, ranges remained busy throughout, and conversations with exhibitors carried a consistent theme: optimism. Under new ownership by the Time Well Spent Group, the event delivered a confident statement about the health of the UK shooting sector.
Organisers estimate attendance rose by around 20 per cent compared with last year. More telling than the headline figure, however, was the commercial energy on display. Retailers were placing orders, international brands were making significant announcements and exhibitors repeatedly spoke about strong engagement from knowledgeable customers prepared to spend.
Major manufacturers do not choose launch platforms lightly. Beretta used the show to mark its 500th anniversary, while Perazzi selected Birmingham for a global product debut. Bergara and Daystate also timed major launches to coincide with the weekend. Taken together, it reinforced the UK’s standing as a serious and respected market within the global trade.
That confidence sits somewhat uneasily alongside the policy direction currently being explored in Westminster.
Proposals to align Section 1 firearms and Section 2 shotgun licensing continue to gather momentum despite evidence suggesting that legally licensed ownership represents an exceptionally small risk to public safety.
Recent analysis of publicly available Office for National Statistics data, parliamentary answers and Freedom of Information responses identified just four firearm related homicides involving certificate holders within a year encompassing more than six million recorded crimes across England and Wales.
Measured against overall recorded crime, that equates to approximately 0.00006 per cent.
The wider national picture adds further context. Intelligence briefings indicate firearms incidents across England and Wales have fallen by around nine per cent between September 2024 and September 2025, with January recording the lowest level of firearms discharges since 2018. While challenges linked to organised crime and illicit weapons remain in certain urban areas, those threats sit firmly outside the world of lawful gun ownership.
The UK already operates one of the most rigorous licensing systems anywhere in the world, supported by continuous police oversight and strict compliance requirements for both certificate holders and the trade.
When lawful ownership accounts for a proportion of recorded crime so small it barely registers statistically, it is reasonable to ask what specific risk structural reform is intended to address.
ROB SMITH
group trade editor, Gun Trade Insider