Gun politics in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, access by the general public to firearms is tightly controlled by law which is much more restrictive than the minimum rules required by the European Firearms Directive, but it is less restrictive in Northern Ireland. The country has one of the lowest rates of gun homicides in the world. There were 0.05 recorded intentional homicides committed with a firearm per 100,000 inhabitants in the five years to 2011 (15 to 38 people per annum). Gun homicides accounted for 2.4% of all homicides in the year 2011. There is some concern over the availability of illegal firearms. Office for National Statistics figures show 7,866 offences in which firearms were involved in the year ending March 2015, 2% up on the previous year and the first increase in 10 years. Of these 19 were fatalities, 10 fewer than the previous year and the lowest since records began in 1969. However, by 2016 gun crime had risen to 2,544, a year on year increase of 42% in London and replicated around Britain.

Members of the public may own sporting rifles and shotguns, subject to licensing, but handguns were effectively banned after the Dunblane school massacre in 1996 with the exception of Northern Ireland. Dunblane was the UK's first and only school shooting. There has been one spree killing since Dunblane, in June 2010 involving a legally owned shotgun.

Police in Great Britain (but not Northern Ireland) are not routinely armed. Fatal shootings of police are extremely rare; there were three in England and Wales in the eleven-year period from 2000/01 to 2010/11. Armed response units are available to deal with incidents, and around 7,000 police officers have received firearms training.

Shooting sports split into different categories in the UK between target shooting, clay pigeon shooting, pest control, and hunting. Sports, once a relatively elitist activity, have become far more popular in modern times amongst people from all walks of life.

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