20/11/2025
If you live, work in or enjoy country sports please take a minute to read this – it IMPORTANT and unfortunately not a joke post.
The Government has now officially spoken about its intent to converge section 1 and section 2 fi****ms. It is officially on the table and will now move forward.
What does this mean? This means that those that enjoy the use of a shotgun for sporting, recreational or work purposes will have to go through the same procedure as someone wanting to own a rifle. This is a far more devastating proposal than you might first think.
In short, swaps, multiple ownership, upgrades, even normal use will be scrutinised by a system that cannot even cope with its own current requirements. It will be time consuming and costly.
Many dealers rely on the income generated by shotgun sales and simply will not survive the delays, increased burden and loss of business – many many shooters will just give up given the increased costs and bureaucracy and many sporting grounds will close as a result. Some would say the desired intent. . .
The effect will hit smaller businesses and the rural community hardest – the very areas that the Government promised it was keen to protect and ‘level up’,
And why? Well, the official line is that of improving ‘Public Safety’ – yet there is not one justification given that fi****ms related crime is the only area of crime that is decreasing in the UK. Legally held firearm crime in the UK is comparatively non-existent. There is, however, a very handy expression called crime involving a ‘weapon’ which will be bundled into the argument presented and sadly we all know how rife knife crime has become.
The only reason for this change is to appease the fact that a perfectly good system (in fact the envy of the world) was not implemented properly by the public services and it resulted in a terrible tragedy. This proposal will garner headlines and public sympathy from the sadly misinformed and mass-media led public, which of course equals publicity for the politicians. It will also be costly to the public purse and time consuming – a questionable Government priority in the current climate?
We are asking you to please make your voice heard. This is a very very unjust situation that country sports finds itself in and will be devastating for businesses and whole communities alike.
What can you do? You need to make noise. You need to share the threat and raise awareness. Speak to your local politician, speak to each other, speak to all and any country organisation you are a member of – get it on the table. There will be consultation and hopefully opportunity to balance the rhetoric but if we are not prepared, and driven, if we do nothing and do not unify, we will, once again, concede another loss to our livelihoods, our shooting heritage and our way of life.
Please share this post with your shooting friends and contact your local MP to make a noise: https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP
