Date confirmed for gun licensing changes, following Keyham shootings
The change follows a coroner's recommendation
Last updated 17th Jan 2025
A change to gun licensing rules following the Keyham shootings comes into force next month known as 'full cost recovery'.
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson MP said the reform would free up £103 million for police forces over the next decade to help fix what she called ‘shortcomings in firearms licencing.’
It was a key coroner’s recommendation after a six week inquest following the Keyham shootings in which five people lost their lives; Maxine Davison, 51, Stephen Washington, 59, Kate Shepherd, 66, Lee Martyn, 43, and three-year-old Sophie Martyn were all killed by Jake Davison in Keyham on August 12, 2021.
From February 5, those applying for firearms licences will pay for the full cost of their application, including safety checks, ending a system where the majority of the cost fell on police forces.
Luke Pollard MP, Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said: “This is good news. Those applying for firearms certificates will now have to pay the full cost of processing them.
"I have been campaigning for stronger gun laws since the tragedy in Keyham in August 2021. A key part of that is dealing with backlogs in firearms applications in police forces nationwide, but especially here in Devon and Cornwall.
"The last government kicked reforms like this into the long-grass, so I am pleased the new Policing Minister has got straight to work with vital changes to gun laws. We are a step closer to ensuring that a tragedy like Keyham's never happens again."
"Full-cost recovery will apply to the grant or renewal of firearms and shotgun certificates, replacement of lost certificates, registration as a firearms dealer and visitors’ permits.
"In 2023/24, police forces granted 23,952 firearms certificates and renewed a further 74,733, although it should be noted that the volume of applications fluctuates over time due to the cyclical period for the renewal of certificates.
"Dame Diana said the coroner’s inquest into the Keyham shootings showed full cost recovery is ‘essential for public safety’. The inquest identified a ‘catastrophic failure’ in firearms licencing at Devon and Cornwall Police which led to the attacker having his gun returned to him just weeks before the shootings."