Proposed Changes to Shotgun Certification

The UK Government is considering a proposal to combine Section 1 (rifles) and Section 2 (shotguns) licensing into a single system. Under this plan, shotguns would be brought under the Firearms Certificate (FAC) process rather than the current Shotgun Certificate (SGC) system. As a result, each shotgun would need to be individually authorised, and applicants would have to justify their need for every firearm, mirroring the existing requirements for rifles.

There is no evidence that further alignment between Sections 1 and 2 is necessary, especially given the significant extra workload it would place on licensing teams. Nor would such a change enhance public safety.

The NSRA is against this proposal and will put across to the Government our view that the current Section 1 and 2 statuses should be retained.