A comprehensive report by the respected online licensing company, get-licensed.co.uk, has shed light on the current firearms licensing landscape across the UK.
The report reveals that Warwickshire boasts the highest concentration of firearms dealers, with 18.1 dealers per 100,000 people. This translates to a total of 110 registered dealers in the county, placing it ninth in the UK for the number of dealers despite being in the bottom half for the number of people holding firearm and shotgun certificates.
The report also highlights that Dyfed-Powys leads the UK in the number of firearm and shotgun certificate holders per 100,000 people, with 2,489.02 certificate holders. This area has nearly 13,000 certificate holders in total, covering almost 34,000 shotguns.
Warwickshire’s leading position is followed by North Yorkshire, which has 11.83 firearm dealers per 100,000 people, placing it 12th highest overall. Surrey completes the top three, with 11.69 firearm dealers per 100,000 people and the third-highest total number of dealers in the UK at 142.
In terms of the number of shotguns per 100,000 people, Dyfed-Powys again tops the list with 6,557 shotguns. Norfolk and Suffolk follow with 6,459 and 5,714 shotguns per 100,000 people, respectively.
Durham has the highest rate of refused applications, with 17.29% of applications being rejected in the 2022/23 period. Additionally, Devon and Cornwall have revoked more shotgun and firearm licences than any other area, with 110 revocations, including 73 shotgun licences and 37 firearm licences.
Financial expenditure on firearm and shotgun certificates is another area covered in the report. Kent residents have spent over £310,000 on their firearm and shotgun certificates, making it the highest in the UK, closely followed by the Metropolitan Police area, where residents have spent over £306,000.
For hunting and shooting retailers, these findings are particularly pertinent. The high concentration of firearms dealers in Warwickshire indicates a robust market. The significant number of firearm and shotgun certificate holders in regions like Dyfed-Powys, North Yorkshire and Norfolk presents opportunities for businesses in
these areas.
The methodology employed by get-licensed.co.uk for this report incorporated data from various official sources to provide a comprehensive analysis of the firearms licensing landscape in the UK. Data on firearm offences per police force area were sourced from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) over the last 10 years (April 2013 to March 2023). The number of firearm certificate holders per 100,000 people, the percentage of refused applications, the number of shotguns per 100,000 people, the number of dealers per 100,000 people and the number of licence revocations were all derived from government datasets available on gov.uk.
The expenditure on firearm and shotgun applications and renewals was calculated using the Met Police’s firearms licensing fees. This included combining the number of applications and renewals with the cost of licences to determine total spending per police force area. Additionally, the report analysed the most common firearms used in offences by combining the number of offences for each type of firearm over the past ten years, providing insights into trends in criminal activity involving firearms.