Recommendation 51

We heard from several witnesses that it is important that reference numbers would not be related to an openly available register of firearms. Reverend Gordon Matheson stated that “for good reasons… you don’t want public awareness of who everyone with a firearm is”.134 Similarly, Dr Colin Shedden, Director Scotland for the British Association of Shooting and Conservation, told us that “our members would be slightly concerned if their names were to be put on a public register”135 as “from a public safety perspective, it is better that people do not know that guns are stored in private houses”.136 129 Q33 130 GOV.UK, Firearms licensing supporting documents, accessed 9 December 2022; Home Office, Guide on firearms licensing law, November 2022, page 80 131 Police Service of Northern Ireland, Request a firearms licence, accessed 7 December 2022 132 Q33 133 Q33 134 Q42 135 Q76 136 Q76 Firearms licensing regulations in Scotland 19