Countryside Alliance calls on Government to honour firearms consultation

The Countryside Alliance has today (25 June) written to Home Office Minister, Nick Hurd, seeking assurance that the consultation on statutory firearms licensing guidance will be published on time.

The Government is committed to moving the existing guidance on firearms licensing to a statutory footing and consulting on the proposed changes. It is hoped that the establishment of statutory guidance will be one way of resolving problems with the firearms licensing medical procedures, which are causing frustration to thousands of licence holders across the country.

Earlier this year, the Government committed to open a consultation on proposals for statutory guidance "by the summer recess". The date when Parliament breaks up for summer has been set for 25 July, meaning the Home Office has only one month left to honour this commitment.

The commitment was given by Government Minister, Lord Howe, during Report Stage of the Offensive Weapons Bill in the House of Lords, in March this year. It followed work by the Countryside Alliance to raise problems with the firearms licensing medical procedures during the passage of the Bill through Parliament, which gained support from peers across the House.

With one month to go until the consultation is due to be published, the Countryside Alliance has written to Minister Hurd expressing "deep concern" about the lack of communication from the Home Office on this issue in recent months and requesting an urgent update on progress made so far in drafting the statutory guidance and plans for launching the consultation.

Countryside Alliance Chief Executive, Tim Bonner, commented: "The Government must honour the commitment to publish proposals for statutory guidance by the end of July. The shooting community has been waiting over three years to see the problems with the medical procedures resolved and further delay would be a cause of great frustration and disappointment.

"I sincerely hope that the Home Office will come forward with proposals that are practical and deliver real improvements for licence holders. The public consultation should be an exercise in fine tuning; without the need for any major changes, which would slow the process down. We remain happy to work with the Home Office to ensure they are in a position to publish proposals by the summer recess".