We received a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA):
I would be grateful if you could provide the following for each year from 2018/19 separately:
(i) Total number of firearm licenses revoked & reasons given for these revocations
(ii) Total number of shotgun licenses revoked & reasons given for these revocations
Our Response:
Revocations for firearms are subject to:
- Section 30A(2)(a) of the Firearms Act 1968– regarded as a vulnerability-based concern below
- Section 30A(2)(b) of the Firearms Act 1968– regarded as a public safety-based concern below
Revocations of shotguns are subject to Section 30C(1) of the Firearms Act 1968 which directs the grounds for revocation as based on public safety, but we have categorised them in a similar manner to firearms for the purpose of this response.
2018: 39 revoked shotgun certificates and 9 revoked firearms certificates
- Vulnerability-based concern: 10
- Public safety-based concern: 38 (including 6 issues with safe storage and 1 criminal use of a shotgun)
2019: 35 revoked shotgun certificates and 18 revoked firearms certificates
- Vulnerability-based concern: 21
- Public safety-based concern: 32 (including 9 issues with safe storage)