Managing director of Viking Arms, Sam MacArthur, has questioned the potential impact of the UK’s lead ammunition restrictions on ammunition supply chains, arguing that the issue extends beyond sporting and recreational shooting.
In a recent LinkedIn post, MacArthur highlighted what she sees as a growing divergence between UK and European policy following the introduction of the Lead Ammunition (Restriction) Regulations 2026.
“The UK is now the only country in the Western world banning lead in metallic ammunition. Not pausing. Not reviewing. Banning.” MacArthur pointed to the European Commission’s decision not to proceed with restrictions on lead bullets under REACH after concerns were raised about the potential impact on defence manufacturing capacity and ammunition supply chains.
She wrote: “The EU was going to do the same thing. Then, on 18 February this year, the European Commission looked at the evidence and reversed course. They explicitly excluded lead bullets from their REACH restriction, citing the risk to defence production capacity. Multiple Member States raised concerns about weakening ammunition supply chains at a time when European defence spending is increasing across the board.
So the EU pulled back. And the UK pressed ahead — alone.”
The UK regulations, introduced through Statutory Instrument 2026/195, include exemptions for military and police use. However, MacArthur questioned whether those exemptions alone would be sufficient to protect supply chains.
“An exemption is permission to buy. It is not a guarantee that there will be anything to buy.
The UK does not manufacture commercial centrefire ammunition at scale domestically.”
MacArthur argued that commercial demand plays a significant role in supporting manufacturing volumes and maintaining supply chains.
“This isn’t speculation. It’s how manufacturing works. Production lines run on volume. Logistics costs depend on scale. When a market shrinks, it drops down the priority list for global producers. Lead times go up. Prices go up. Availability goes down.”
She also questioned whether the Government’s environmental objectives could be achieved without affecting the wider ammunition ecosystem.
“And here’s the contradiction that really should be getting more scrutiny: the Minister responsible is simultaneously arguing that the restriction will achieve its environmental purpose — which requires a significant reduction in commercial lead ammunition use — and that it won’t affect the supply ecosystem.
Both cannot be true. Either the restriction reduces commercial volume, in which case the production economics change, or it doesn’t, in which case what exactly is the environmental benefit?”
MacArthur further noted what she described as a contradiction between the UK’s lead ammunition policy and the Government’s broader efforts to strengthen defence and economic cooperation with the European Union.
“Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is pursuing closer defence industrial alignment with the EU. The UK has signed a Security and Defence Partnership. The Chancellor has called closer EU economic integration the ‘biggest prize’ for the UK economy. And yet, through a DEFRA chemicals regulation, we are diverging from the EU in a direction that the EU itself has concluded undermines defence supply chain resilience.”
The lead ammunition restrictions remain a significant topic of discussion across the shooting industry as businesses continue to assess the long-term implications for manufacturing, supply chains and product availability.