Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to stop the illegal importation of crossbows.

The Government is actively considering the introduction of further controls around crossbows. This follows a call for evidence on strengthening controls on crossbows on public safety grounds which ran from 14 February to 9 April 2024.

The call for evidence paper tested ideas for whether there should be some form of licensing regime that would provide further controls on the use, ownership and supply of crossbows including whether sellers should be licensed in some way. The responses have been reviewed and we will publish the Government’s response to the call for evidence shortly, which will include what action we intend to take.

It is an offence, under the Crossbows Act 1987, for anyone under the age of 18 to purchase a crossbow or parts of a crossbow. The Government is taking action to strengthen the law on sales and delivery including from abroad. Measures currently in the Crime and Policing Bill will make it an offence for a delivery business, delivering a crossbow or parts of a crossbow to a residential premises on behalf of a seller outside of the United Kingdom, to hand the package containing the crossbow to someone other than the purchaser and to confirm, through checking an identity document as prescribed and provided by the purchaser, that they are aged 18 or over.