It has been revealed that hundreds of gun licences were granted in Avon and Somerset over the last year. A total of 860 new applications for firearm and shotgun certificates were granted in the year to March locally, according to the latest Home Office data.
Only six applications were refused. A further 5,692 applications to renew an existing certificate were granted. This brings the total number of people in the Avon and Somerset area with a firearm or shotgun certification (or both) to 21,540.
It comes as a new scheme gives GPs the right to alert police if a gun owner starts suffering from a medical condition that may make having the weapon unsafe. Doctors will now be alerted to the ownership of weapons via GP records.
