Senior police officers, families of shooting victims and anti-gun campaigners have called for a “radical reform” of the firearms licensing system after an inquest jury found “catastrophic” failings allowed the Plymouth gunman, Jake Davison, to legally possess a shotgun that he used to kill five people.
Pressure is mounting on the UK government to overhaul the 50-year-old licensing legislation and ensure police forces are adequately funded to allow them to fully examine the suitability of gun owners.
Speaking after the inquest, relatives of his victims described the actions of Davison, who was fascinated with “incel” culture, previous mass shootings and serial murderers, as “pure evil” but said he had been given a “licence to kill” by Devon and Cornwall police. They also argued that the home secretary, Suella Braverman, would be “betraying” them if she did not change the system.
They said: “There needs to be radical reform. That means fewer guns in circulation with robust safeguards.”
It has emerged that senior officers believe there are still “many” firearms in the hands of people who should not have them, despite the former home secretary Priti Patel ordering them to look again at cases where they returned firearms to people after confiscation.
Only two forces, one of them Devon and Cornwall, removed guns from owners after re-examining cases. A senior Devon and Cornwall officer, Ch Supt Roy Linden, accepted this meant there were “many guns” in the hands of people who should not have them. Debbie Tedds, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on firearms licensing, said she was “really concerned” about this.
Alarm bells have also been rung because the number of shotgun certificate applications Devon and Cornwall are rejecting has doubled since the Plymouth shootings but the rate in the rest of England and Wales has remained at just 3%, suggesting some forces may still be looking too leniently on applications.
The new chief constable of Devon and Cornwall, Will Kerr, who came into the post the year after Davison’s attacks, is among those calling for fundamental change.
He said the firearms legislation, introduced in 1968, was “no longer suitable”, arguing that the emphasis was on “permitting rather than preventing gun ownership”. He said: “Currently we are faced with 43 police forces independently interpreting discretionary guidance from a law created in 1968.”
Tedds agreed that the legislation needed to be overhauled to make the licensing regime for shotguns as strict as for section one firearms, such as rifles.
On 12 August 2021, Davison, 22, killed his mother, Maxine, 51; three-year-old Sophie Martyn; her father, Lee, 43; Stephen Washington, 59; and Kate Shepherd, 66, in Keyham, Plymouth, before turning his weapon on himself.
The inquest jury said “catastrophic failures” within Devon and Cornwall’s firearms licensing unit led to an “unsafe culture” and the force had failed to protect the victims and the wider public.
Kerr and Tedds agreed with the Plymouth families and the jury that a national accredited training scheme for firearms enquiry officers (FEOs) was needed. There have been calls for such a scheme since the Dunblane tragedy more than 25 years ago, with inspectors, coroners and campaigners all warning that lives will continue to be lost until one is brought in. A curriculum has been drawn up and a delivery plan is being worked on but there is still no start date.
The Home Office will also come under pressure to increase the cost of firearms certificates. At the moment it only costs £79.50 for a shotgun certificate and £88 for a section one firearm, but it costs up to £520 to process each certificate. A concern raised during the shootings inquest was that this was leading to forces being under pressure and cutting corners.
Yet another worry is that there may still be flaws in the way police and GPs work together to make sure FEOs can find out about medical issues, such as mental health problems, that applicants may have.
After the Plymouth shootings, the government brought in new statutory guidance, meaning nobody will be granted a firearms licence unless the police have reviewed information from a doctor.
A computer marker system designed to flag up issues has been brought in but the British Medical Association says it will be five years before this is working fully.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has issued a series of recommendations to Devon and Cornwall police and the Home Office to strengthen licensing controls.
A Devon and Cornwall firearms licensing supervisor has received a written warning over the Davison case. The IOPC also found that a firearms enquiry officer would have had a case to answer for misconduct, had they not left the police.
The jury made no mention of links between Davison and incel culture. But in its report on the shootings, the IOPC highlighted that in April 2021 Davison made a video in which he appeared to identify with incel spree killers.
It added: “It is possible that Mr Davison may have started planning the shooting during his final days, as he searched online for information about anti-terror policing in the UK, incel serial killers, and instructions on reloading firearms.”
The Plymouth jury’s conclusions follow the deaths this month of Epsom College’s headteacher, Emma Pattison, her husband, George, and their seven-year-old daughter, Lettie. Detectives are examining the possibility that George Pattison killed his wife and daughter and then himself with a legally held firearm.
Chrissie Hall, the coordinator of the Gun Control Network, set up after Dunblane, said the licensing system was “broken, inadequate and dangerous”. She said: “Every time there’s a multiple shooting, there’s an inquest and the mayhem and chaos within firearms departments is laid bare.”
Sue Redman, a trustee of a foundation set up in memory of her best friend, Kelly Fitzgibbons, who was shot dead by her partner alongside her daughters Ava, four, and Lexi, two, in 2020, said: “The whole licensing process seems to be geared up to the idea that people have the right to have a shotgun, not that it is a privilege. More training and more resources are needed.”
Peter Squires, a professor of criminology and public policy at the University of Brighton, said the Plymouth and Epsom shootings showed the dangers posed by firearms and supplies of ammunition kept by private citizens in family homes. “The system is not fit for purpose,” he said.
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation described the licensing system as “largely unprofessional, overburdened and poorly resourced” and said it was putting public safety at risk. “It is invariably considered a Cinderella service,” said a spokesperson.
The Home Office said it would “reflect on the coroner’s report, including any recommendations, and respond in due course”.
