Strict gun laws to be introduced after fatal Keyham and Woodmancote shootings
Individuals with a history of violence or domestic abuse will be banned from having firearms within the scope of strict new arrangements introduced this week.
The guidance, published on Tuesday, directly deals with the concerns of coronary and campaignists after the latest deadly shots in Woodmancote, Sussex and Keyham, near Plymouth.
In accordance with updated directives, police officers will be obliged to meet with partners, or other household members of firearms license license applicants.
This aims to reveal symptoms of domestic abuse or an individual that is not suitable for having weapons. The forces should also perform meticulous checks to prevent documented violence from holding a firearm license.
This policy change allowed Keyham Gunman Jake Davison to have a legally hunting rifle despite his violent history, when an investigation emphasized ‘disaster failures’ within the license system of an investigation.
At that time, 22 -year -old Davison killed his mother and four people, including a three -year -old girl in an eight -minute shooting frenzy in August 2021.
The evidence of fraud will be counted against an application, including the detention of the relevant medical history.
Robert Needham, who killed his partner Kelly Fitzgibbons and his daughters Ava and Lexi with a legally owned hunting rifle in their homes in Woodmancote in 2020, acknowledged that he could not explain his stress story about depression and work.
Fitzgibbons’ sister Emma Ambler welcomed the changes, but said it was “still a way”.
He said: “I still believe that it is not a right to hold a gun license, but a privilege.
“Priority should be the security of the society and it is very important to stop the fall of these extremely dangerous weapons into the wrong hands, which will go to a way to make these changes.”
Tuesday’s changes will also mean that applicants for hunting rifle licenses now require two referees instead of one and make the process compatible with rules for other firearms.
Police Minister Diana Diana Johnson said: “Only those who meet the highest security and responsibility standards should be allowed to use a hunting rifle or firearm, and it is very important that the police have full information about the suitability of all applicants for these deadly weapons.
“In 2020, Woodmancote, Plymouth in 2021, and other cases, these weapons provide a tragic reminder about what can happen while the wrong people are in the hands of the wrong people, and we need to do everything we can to protect the public.”
Since the controls on hunting rifle ownership will be initiated later this year, after another consultation, it will seek opinions on improving rules in private firearms sales.
The new consultation is following the Nicholas Prosper case, which killed her mother Juliana Falcon and her brothers Giselle and Kyle Prosper in 2024, in 2024.
The 19 -year -old Prosper was able to buy a hunting rifle and 100 cartridges from a legitimate firearm seller after creating a license.
At the beginning of this year, he was imprisoned for at least 49 years of life after being found guilty of murders.
