Licence plan upsets the anti-gun lobby

A cash-saving proposal to stop home visits for some shotgun licence renewals has been slammed as ‘horrendous’ by anti-gun campaigners.

Plans to halt some home visits for the five-yearly certificate renewals as part of the growing collaboration between Bedfordshire Police and Hertfordshire Constabulary will be put forward later this month.

If they get the go-ahead, it will mean gun users may be able to keep their licences without being assessed in person by police officers.

The plans have enraged Lucy Cope, 55, who created anti-gun campaign group Mothers Against Guns after her son was shot outside a London nightclub in 2002 has hit out against the suggested changes.

She said: “That is a horrendous idea. The one they skip could be the one.

“The blood will be on their hands.

A bullet doesn’t have a brain, its only intention is to kill.

“Are Bedfordshire Police saying we will save money, but not lives? “It’s sending out a very weak message.

If they’re not doing checks, how to they know the gun is in the house?” The news comes two months after our sister paper, Luton & Dunstable Express, exclusively revealed 49 children own shotgun certificates in Bedfordshire – the youngest of whom is aged ten.

If accepted, the new shotgun licence plans will go out to consultation before being put into practice, with savings expected through staff redundancies.

Gun licence holders would still have to meet certain criteria in order to be considered suitable to skip the home visit.

Sarah Wilkinson, spokeswoman for Bedfordshire Police, said: “One of the possible suggestions is that the team may not do some home visits at the point of renewal of a shotgun license.

“For instance, a retired gamekeeper who has held a shotgun licence at the same address for 25 years with no problems who passes all the other renewal checks – is it really necessary to visit the same premises for the fifth time? “Other than that, the procedures would stay the same.

“No decision has been made about any of the proposals at this stage