Debate secured to stop 'rural antagonising' shotgun licence merger

Shotgun ownership is an essential tool of work within rural and land-based industries, but has the Government taken a 'one-sided view' which will pose a risk to farmers' livelihoods?

Chris Brayford
clock • 4 min read
"Farmers, pest controllers and gamekeepers are law abiding, vetted and subject to ongoing scrutiny under one of the most stringent firearms licensing regimes in the world. Treating them as part of a broader criminal problem which they have no connection to undermines trust, damages confidence in the licensing system, and unfairly tars responsible people with a criminal brush."
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"Farmers, pest controllers and gamekeepers are law abiding, vetted and subject to ongoing scrutiny under one of the most stringent firearms licensing regimes in the world. Treating them as part of a broader criminal problem which they have no connection to undermines trust, damages confidence in the licensing system, and unfairly tars responsible people with a criminal brush."

Countryside campaigners have taken a decisive first step in a bid to derail the Government's plans to make it harder for people to own a shotgun after a petition reached more than 100,000 signatures in...

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