Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed reforms to shotgun licensing on (a) rural hotels, (b) pubs and (c) tourism businesses reliant on shooting activity.

The Government is committed to undertaking a public consultation on whether to strengthen the controls on shotguns, including possible closer alignment with the controls on other firearms. This was set out in the Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February this year. Once the consultation is launched, we would welcome views from all interested parties, including from those who live and work in rural communities and shotgun holders.

We will carefully consider all of the views put forward during the consultation before taking any decision on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will provide an assessment of the impact of any changes we bring forward, including to the business community in rural areas, at the relevant time.