To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider amending the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988 to prevent shotgun certificates being issued to children.

We have no plans to introduce a statutory minimum age for the grant of a shotgun certificate. Age is a factor which a chief officer may take into account when considering whether an applicant may be permitted to possess a shotgun without danger to the public safety or the peace.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children aged under 16 years currently hold shotgun certificates, by age; and if he will make a statement.

The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.