Shooting Times & Country – 17 July 2019

BorisJohnsonandJeremyHunt tellCountrysideAlliance theysupport

gunownership — but their views varyon whetherchangeis needed

T

hecandidatesto

beConservative

leaderandprime

ministerhavetoldthe

CountrysideAlliancewherethey

standona rangeofrural and

fieldsportsissues.

BorisJohnsonandJeremy

Huntansweredquestionson

issuesfromruralbroadbandto

thegenerallicences,withboth

committingtodelivera Brexit

thatworksforruralcommunities.

Withconcernsincreasing

overfirearmslicensing,the

condenterswereaskedif they

wouldensuretherewere“no

unduerestrictionsonlegitimate

gunownershipanduse”.MrHunt

saidhe“wouldn’tintroduce any

unduerestrictions”.

However,MrJohnson,who

is leadingMrHuntintheopinion

pollsbya hugemargin,tooka

different line, saying: “We rightly

havesomeofthestrictestgun

lawsintheworld.I believethat

legitimateownershipanduse

shouldcomewithrobustlevels

ofresponsibility,too.”

Hedidnotcommittokeeping

thecurrentregimeintact,instead

sayingthat“changing these laws

isnota priority”.

MrHuntappearedtogive

a stronger commitment to

protectingthecurrent general

licenceregime.

Thecandidateswereasked

to“confirmtherewillbeno

unjustifiedrestrictionsonthe

listofavianpests,including

thosespeciescontrolled

toprotectcrops,livestock,

andbiodiversity”.

MrHunttoldtheAlliance:

“I wouldn’tintroduceany

unjustifiedrestrictionsinthis

areaandampleasedthatMichael

Govehasdecidedtoissuethree

newgenerallicencesforthe

killingortakingofwild pest

birdsinEngland.”

MrJohnson,however,

wasonlywillingtosay:“As

withanywildlifeissue,the

government’spositionwillbe

drivenbythehighestquality

independentevidence.”

Thecandidateswereinbroad

agreementovertheissueofthe

EuropeanFirearmsPass,which

allowsownerstotransport guns

throughoutEurope.

MrHuntsaid:“Thatis

certainlysomethingI willmake

part of the discussions and it

is intheinterestsofall

participatingstatestocome

toa sensibleagreement.”

MrJohnsonsaid:“I willbe

aimingtoensurewehavea trade

dealthatminimisesfrictionon

thecross-bordertransferof

goods,whileensuringthatour

borderis secureandprotectsUK

citizens.I willbehappytodiscuss

specific concerns as we strike

t h a t d e a l .”

Matt Cross

S.YOUNG

/H.

HUNT

/P.

QUAGLIANA / J. MACTAVISH / ALAMY

JeremyHuntandBoris

Johnsonoffereddiffering

opinions on licensing

“Legitimateownershipanduse

shouldcomewithrobust levels

of responsibility, too”

Leadership hopefuls state

their case on gun licensing

6 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

NEWS

JeremyHuntwouldimposeno

“undue restrictions on gun use”

BorisJohnsonwantstosee

“independent evidence”