Thousands of gun licences were granted across England and Wales in the year to March – as a new scheme will see doctors alerted to ownership of the weapons via GP records.
The new rules, which only apply in England, come almost a year after 22-year-old Jake Davison shot and killed five people – including his mother and a three-year-old girl – with a pump-action shotgun in Plymouth on August 12 last year, before turning the gun on himself. It later emerged that Davison’s gun and certificate had previously been removed after he allegedly assaulted two youths, before having the weapon returned.
The mass shooting led to the Home Office asking all police forces to review their firearm licensing practices, while additional safety checks were introduced. Across England and Wales, 24,841 new applications for firearm and shotgun certificates were granted in the year to March, according to the latest Home Office data.
