The Gun Control Network welcomes damning new gun licencing report and calls for action
by Gun Control Network on 28-08-2026
Press release 28 August 2026
The HMICFRS (His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services) report on firearms licensing, issued today, is a vindication of the long-term campaigning work by the Gun Control Network. It acknowledges that the firearms licensing system is not fit for purpose and needs a radical overhaul.
Repeated agencies, including Select Committees and Coroners, and the HMIC itself in 2015, have called for this, but successive governments have merely tinkered with the system and failed to respond adequately to a series of multiple and domestic shootings. We note that women killed by shooting are usually killed with a legally-held shotgun.
Gill Marshall-Andrews, Chair of the Gun Control Network, said:
“Shotguns are themselves in the firing line in this damning report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services. It clearly says that the firearms licensing system is not fit for purpose and we need a new national body to oversee regulation. At the Gun Control Network, we have raised constant concerns about the firearms licensing system, and we welcome action being taken following this report.”
The recent new Guidance for Firearms Licensing Officers issued by the Home Office is a genuine attempt to remedy the inconsistencies and poor decision making that characterise the current licensing system. However, it does not address the legal inadequacies that enshrine in law the outdated and erroneous view that shotguns are not as lethal as rifles.
The GCN has long campaigned for all lethal firearms to be subject to the most robust licensing system. This report makes that one of HMICFRS’s key recommendations. It is greatly hoped that these clear and important recommendations are acted on quickly and not deferred or ignored as so many others have been in the past.