Seven-year-old among 2,800 children granted gun licences by police in England and Wales
A seven-year-old is among almost 2,800 children who legally own guns in England and Wales, official statistics have shown.
Figures released by the Home Office showed that 247 children aged 13 and under, and 2,500 aged 14 to 17 hold shotgun certificates.
A further 282 14- to 17-year-olds are permitted to own other types of firearms, including rifles and handguns.
They were among 586,351 people with gun licences as of 31 March after the figure dropped by around 5,000 in a year.
The vast majority were male and aged between 18 and 64, according to statistics released on Thursday.
A Home Office document said: “For young people under age 14, certain exemptions apply under the Firearms Acts which allow them to possess a firearm or shotgun in certain circumstances.
“For example, for sporting purposes, for use at a rifle/pistol club or cadet corps, or at a miniature rifle range.”
Under-14s cannot hold a firearms certificate, but there is no age limit on shotgun certificates for weapons which generally hold no more than two rounds.
For each firearms certificate an average of 3.8 weapons are held, while the figure is 2.4 for shotgun licences.
The Home Office said 1,383,777 shotguns and 604,920 firearms are legally held in England and Wales – 1,988,697 in total.
Most were registered as rifles and shotguns commonly used for target shooting, vermin control and sporting purposes.
Licences are issued by police for firearms and ammunition, and are valid for five years.
Police must be satisfied that applicants have a “good reason” for having a gun, that they are “fit to be entrusted with a firearm” and that “[the] public safety or peace will not be endangered”.
In the year to March, only 3 per cent of almost 19,000 new applications for shotgun certificates and 8,000 for firearm certificates were refused. For renewals, the figure was just 0.2 per cent.
Police revoked 1,141 shotgun licences and 371 for firearms.
The move is taken if police believe the owner can no longer be trusted with weapons, is of “unsound mind” or presents a safety risk.
Licensing practices were criticised following the murders of a mother and daughter by farmer John Lowe in 2014.
An inquest found that failings by Surrey Police’s firearms licensing department contributed to the deaths of Christine and Lucy Lee.
The shotgun Lowe used to commit the murders had been confiscated by police but handed back seven months earlier, despite an allegation he had threatened to shoot Lucy’s sister dead the year before.
The areas with the highest rate of firearms per population are North Yorkshire, Dyfed-Powys in Wales and Cumbria, and the lowest were London, the West Midlands and Merseyside.
The Home Office said gun ownership was more common in rural areas where they are used for farming, game-keeping and leisure.
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