Gun lobby 'hijacking consultation' on laws

A UK gun control group has warned that pro-gun organisations are using their large memberships to 'hijack' attempts to reform gun laws, after the Plymouth shootings.

-  CARL EVE

Following the five-week long jury-led inquest into the deaths of five people in Keyham on August 12, 2021, senior coroner Ian Arrow made a series of recommendations which included calling upon not just police forces to improve their firearms licensing process, but also the Home Office in the guidance it issues.

Mr Arrow stated in his Prevention of Future Deaths report that the Firearms Act 1968 "requires root and branch reform" by the Government to ensure the risk of future deaths was reduced.

The following month, having met with the Home Office, the Gun Control Network (GCN) - set up in the wake of the Dunblane massacre in 1996 - warned that opponents of further controls on firearms and shotguns would try to water down any of the recommendations made.