Do not merge section 1 & 2 regulations on firearms licenses
The Parliament petitions site records 122,952 signatures for this petition, which closed on 11 June 2026. The Government responded on 6 January 2026. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 23 February 2026.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Do not merge section 1 & 2 regulations on firearms licenses
Keep section 1 firearm & section 2 shotgun licensing separate. I think this would help to protect law-abiding owners, the shooting industry, & rural communities. Policies should focus on real public safety issues without burdening responsible citizens or damaging heritage & livelihoods.
I want Parliament to keep Section 1 and 2 licensing separate. I think this would help to protect law-abiding owners, the shooting trade, and rural communities. I think merging licenses would create delays, higher costs, and bureaucracy without improving public safety. Policies should focus on what I think are more real threats like illegal weapons and knife crime, while helping to preserve heritage, livelihoods, and participation in shooting sports.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 6 January 2026; the petitions site lists the Home Office as responsible. Its summary:
The Government has committed to a public consultation on strengthening licensing controls on shotguns. We will consider all views submitted during the consultation before deciding on further action.
The opening 296 words of the 409-word response:
The Government recognises that shotguns and firearms are used for a range of legitimate purposes, such as target shooting and hunting, and the vast majority are used safely and responsibly. We also recognise that shooting contributes to the rural economy.
The Government is, however, mindful that legally held shotguns have been used in a number of homicides and other incidents in recent years including the fatal shootings in Keyham, Plymouth, in August 2021. It is for this reason that we committed to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns, to bring them more into line with controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. We announced this on 13 February 2025 when we published the Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation which had been run by the previous Government.
Recommendations relating to strengthening shotgun controls had been made to the Government by the Coroner in his preventing future deaths report issued in May 2023 and followed the inquest into the deaths of those who were shot and killed in Plymouth in August 2021. Similar recommendations on shotgun controls were also made in the report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct following its investigation into the Plymouth shootings, and by the Scottish Affairs Committee in its report following a fatal shooting with a shotgun in Skye in August 2022.
We intend to publish the consultation shortly. No decisions have yet been made on whether and what changes might be necessary. We will consider carefully the views put forward during the consultation once it is completed, before deciding what further action to take. We will also provide an impact assessment in relation to any changes that the Government intends to bring forward after the consultation, in the normal way.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies. Measured against each constituency's electorate at the 2024 general election, the most came from Arundel and South Downs, with 10.8 signatures per 1,000 electors (844 in all).
122,607 of the signatures were from the UK and 345 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures | Electorate, July 2024 | Per 1,000 electors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arundel and South Downs | 844 | 77,969 | 10.8 |
| South Shropshire | 773 | 76,677 | 10.1 |
| North Herefordshire | 715 | 72,797 | 9.8 |
| North Cotswolds | 712 | 73,203 | 9.7 |
| South Cotswolds | 698 | 71,971 | 9.7 |
| Thirsk and Malton | 754 | 78,468 | 9.6 |
| East Wiltshire | 705 | 74,139 | 9.5 |
| Waveney Valley | 654 | 73,056 | 9.0 |
| North Dorset | 628 | 72,690 | 8.6 |
| Tiverton and Minehead | 623 | 72,087 | 8.6 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 22,474 |
| South West | 16,863 |
| East of England | 16,493 |
| East Midlands | 11,690 |
| West Midlands | 10,969 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 10,181 |
| North West | 9,425 |
| Scotland | 8,281 |
| Wales | 6,072 |
| London | 4,752 |
| North East | 4,078 |
| Northern Ireland | 471 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 23 February 2026. Read the debate in Hansard.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/750236.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
23e14016c6a6a37a… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.