Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of banning .50 calibre rifles and manually activated reload systems on legitimate users of such weapons.

On 14 October the Government launched a public consultation on proposals to strengthen controls on offensive and dangerous weapons, including the prohibition of two types of firearm which we feel present a risk to public safety: .50 calibre ‘materiel destruction’ rifles and rapid fire rifles, such as the VZ58 Manually Actuated Release System (MARS) rifle.

The consultation closes on 9 December. An Impact Assessment has been published alongside the consultation paper and is available to view on GOV.UK. The consultation seeks views on the proposals, including the impact on the owners of these weapons.