MP for Rutland and Stamford Alicia Kearns has written to Secretary of State Shabana Mahmood, defending current shotgun policy use as 'legitimate and important' for rural communities.

In her letter to the Secretary of State, Kearns said that residents across Rutland and Stamford 'have raised serious concerns about the proposal to merge shotgun and firearms licenses.'

'Shotguns are,' according to Kearns, 'an essential part of farming, conservation and countryside management, and a proportionate licensing system is vital for both public safety and rural livelihoods.'

The current proposal from Government hopes to bring shotgun ownership under the same licensing regime as rifles and other firearms.

Those against the proposal, including the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), claim their is no evidence to support the policy.

BASC, which is the UK's largest shooting organisation with over 150,000 members, are concerned that stricter rules on shotgun ownership could impact rural traditions and game sports.

However, on the other side of the argument, those in favour of the policy changes cite deaths by firearms as a reason firearm legislation needed to be changed.

In September 2024, 18-year-old Nicholas Prosper in Luton murdered three of his own family members with a shotgun.

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Prosper confessed to three counts of murder, for shooting his mother Juliana Falcon, age 48, his brother Kyle Prosper, age 16, and sister Giselle Prosper, age 13.

After his arrect, officers discovered how Prosper had also planned to carry out a shooting at a local primary school, which he wanted to be the most deadly school shooting in history.

Prosper responded to an online advert and bought a shotgun and 100 cartridges from a legitimate gun seller for £650, faking an interest in clay pigeon shooting and using a fake licence he had made himself.

Campaigners for shotgun reform use this triple murder and planned school shooting of an example of the dangers of firearm ownership.

In her letter to the Secretary of State, however, Kearns said: 'I am concerned under a stricter, one-size-fits all regime, legitimate shotgun use will inevitably fall, despite shotguns being practical working tools in the countryside.

'Such a change would, in turn, place further pressure on already stretched police firearms licencing units, lengthening waiting times for applicants, and drive up costs for responsible certificate holders.'

'This proposal,' continues Kearns, 'appears to be part of a wider pattern in which rural communities are being failed by this Government's decisions, including the Family Farm Tax, the spread of large-scale solar and onshore wind developments across productive farmland, the weakening of protections for our countryside and green belt, and a growing sense that our rural way of life is under attack.'