With so many tragic stories of incidents with kids and guns in the news of late, we were very shocked with the latest findings.

 

A Freedom of Information request sent to all police stations in England and Wales, brought the shocking figures to light after nearly every force provided a five year breakdown.

 

The information showed that more than 670 kids under the age of 14 were given a gun certificate in the last five years.

 

In the UK, there is no minimum age to apply for a certificate, but it is illegal for those under the age of eighteen to buy or even own a gun.

 

According to Chief Superintendent Jim Nye from Devon and Cornwall Police, “the young persons who are asking for a certificate to be granted are generally brought up in a farming community where it's tradition”, but campaigners are worried that more and more kids will turn to them in an emergency.

 

Christine Hall from Gun Control Network, said: "The danger is it poses in the mind-set of the child that it's fun to kill things. It seems strange that a child can't go into a pub and have a pint but they can have access to a shotgun."

 

However, a spokesperson from The British Association for Shooting and Conservation, said: "For many children growing up in families where shooting is a part of life, acquiring a shotgun certificate is part of training in shooting safely which emphasises responsibility and self-discipline. This can only be to the public benefit and as the police confirm is no threat to public safety."

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