Police reforms prompt calls for centralised firearms licensing

Home Secretary plans national policing overhaul

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s planned overhaul of England and Wales’ police forces could provide the opportunity to create a single, centralised firearms licensing body, the Countryside Alliance has said.

The white paper, published on 26 January under the title ‘From local to national: a new model for policing’, proposes establishing a National Police Service to handle national policing responsibilities, lifting the burden from local forces to focus on their streets.

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Countryside Alliance calls for firearms licensing review

The Alliance said it would engage with the Home Secretary to ensure firearms licensing departments are included in her proposed review of police force structures and “the current fragmented landscapes of partnerships and bodies”.

Roger Seddon, the Alliance’s shooting campaign manager, said the proposals contained lines “strikingly similar” to those in a report the organisation commissioned on faltering police firearms licensing departments. He noted the Home Secretary’s statement that “the 43-force model, nearly unchanged in 60 years, is no longer fit for purpose” echoed arguments made by the shooting community.

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Benefits of centralised licensing

The Alliance argues that if the Government’s desired outcome is reducing risk to public safety, aligning Section 2 shotguns with Section 1 firearms legislation would not achieve it, but bringing the 43 licensing departments together would.

Mr Seddon said few functions vary more widely than firearms licensing, adding that a single, centralised body is needed to address the inconsistencies and inefficiencies across forces.