London, Apr.14 (ANI): Police have given gun licences to children aged just seven.
A Daily Mirror investigation discovered 5,343 under-18s got permits in the last two years because of a legal loophole.
All youngsters have to do is fill in a form and attend a routine police interview to get a licence. These include permits for .22 rifles, .243 rifles, .410 pistols, .410 shotguns and 12-bore semi automatic shotguns. Anti-gun campaigners branded the figures “scandalous”.
But our probe discovered three - Devon and Cornwall, Lancashire and Northants - have handed them to children as young as eight.
Sussex Police handed out the most gun licences to kids. It issued 403 permits to children - including four nine-year-olds, three 10-year-olds and 20 11-year-olds.
Anti-gun campaigner Rebecca Peters said: “This loophole must be closed now. To issue a shotgun licence to a seven-year-old is nothing short of madness.”
The probe looked at every police force in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The figures were from the National Firearms Licensing Management System. (ANI)