England and Wales are now the only UK nations where anyone aged over 18 can buy, own and use an air gun without any licence. That makes it easy for these weapons to fall into the wrong hands, and means countless cats are injured or killed in random and cruel air gun attacks.
Scotland and Northern Ireland already have modern laws in place to ensure air guns are responsibly owned. When it comes to animal welfare, we know this is effective – over 90% of reported air gun attacks on cats happen elsewhere - in England and Wales.
We’re calling on the government to bring England and Wales in line with the rest of the UK and introduce licensing of air guns. These laws are now well overdue and will help cat owners and the wider public feel safer in their community.
Despite announcing the outcome of a consultation in November 2020, the government has still not committed to licensing. Instead, it says it will look at the case for reducing access for under 18s. While this is a small positive step, we believe licensing is the only way to stop countless cats and other animals being shot, injured and killed.
We can only bring about change to the laws on air guns in England and Wales if many thousands of cat lovers like you get behind our campaign. If you want to help stop lethal air guns falling into the wrong hands, please sign our petition.
* Air gun regulation is a reserved matter in Wales which means it is dealt with at Westminster.
