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Sunak defends response to call for firearms reforms

PA Media Tributes to the Plymouth shooting victimsPA Media
Jake Davison used a legally-held gun to kill his mother and four others before he shot himself
  • Rishi Sunak insisted firearms controls were improving in the wake of the Plymouth shootings
  • Labour MP Luke Pollard said he was concerned proposed changes were being "watered down"
  • He asked the prime minister whether he would "bow to pressure from lobbyists"
  • Mr Sunak said the government had taken action to increase checks on firearms applicants

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has insisted firearms controls are improving despite concerns that reforms proposed in the wake of the Plymouth shootings could be "watered down".

The Home Office is still considering public responses into proposed changes to firearms licencing laws.

But Labour MP Luke Pollard said in the House of Commons the measures "look like they could be watered down".

Mr Sunak said in reply that firearms controls were "kept under constant review".

Maxine Davison, Sophie and Lee Martyn, Kate Shepherd and Stephen Washington
Maxine Davison, Sophie and Lee Martyn, Kate Shepherd and Stephen Washington were killed in August 2021

In June the government launched a consultation into firearms licencing, which has since closed, but rejected a key recommendation to align shotgun and firearms legislation.

Jake Davison, 22, used a legally-held shotgun to kill his mother Maxine Davison, 51, and four others before shooting himself in the Keyham area of the city on 12 August 2021.

Campaigners have previously criticised the Home Office consultation as "tokenistic".

Mr Pollard, the MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said it appeared some proposed measures would not proceed due to "pressure from shooting groups".

He said: "Will the prime minister bow down to lobbyists from the shooting industry or will he stand with the grieving families and those in Plymouth who want to see no other tragedy like this ever happen with stronger gun laws?"

Mr Sunak said the government had taken action to increase information sharing between GPs and police while firearms applicants were also subject to social media checks.

"[Mr Pollard} will know that firearms are subject to stringent controls, and rightly so, but those controls are kept under constant review," he said.

The Home Office would respond to the consultation responses "in due course", the prime minister added.

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