Several firearms licences revoked in Nottinghamshire last year

Across England and Wales, a record number of licences were removed from firearms users, with the British Association for Shooting and Conservation praising the vetting process for catching unsuitable gun owners.

Action on Armed Violence, a campaign group that aims to end armed violence, said the UK’s gun laws “work”, with firearms deaths lower nationally than in many other countries.

Home Office figures show eight firearms licences were revoked by Nottinghamshire Police in the year to March, down from 12 in 2021-22.

In 2008-09, when records first began, just two firearms licences were revoked.

Meanwhile, a further 32 shotgun licences were revoked last year.

Across England and Wales, there were 418 firearms revocations in 2022-23, up from 385 the year before and the highest figure on record, which began in 1992.

Some 1,161 shotgun licences were removed, the highest figure in the last six years.

The BASC praised the vetting process individuals must pass when applying for a licence, due to the small percentage of certificate holders who have their licence revoked.

Martin Parker, BASC head of firearms, said the reason for the record numbers is “almost certainly the introduction of statutory guidance on suitability checks of certificate holders in 2021”, which the BASC assisted in creating to improve consistency across police forces.

He said: “Shooting is an incredibly popular activity, incorporating thousands of jobs, competitive target and clay pigeon shooting and essential wildlife management.”

Iain Overton, AOAV executive director, said the figures “can be viewed two ways: the first is, reassuringly, there are attempts to ensure firearms in the UK are only held by those capable of using them legally; the second is a cause of concern, that numbers are rising”.

He said: “The truth is we, compared with many countries, are a remarkably safe nation for firearm deaths. Ultimately, we should be more concerned with knife crime than gun crime. In an imperfect world, our gun laws work.”

The figures also show 522 firearms and shotguns were lost or stolen across England and Wales in 2022-23, 19 per cent higher than the year before and 43 per cent higher than two years ago.

In Nottinghamshire, 16 firearms or shotguns were lost or stolen, up from 13 in 2020-21.