Labor has been accused of a new attack on farmers after ministers said they would discuss whether they would make it harder to possess shotguns.
Minister of home office Diana Johnson said that the government would look at coordinating the rules for firearms and shotguns.
License requirements are currently much stricter for the 140,000 firearm owners in the UK than for the 610,000 Shotgun owners.
In a written statement, Mrs. Johnson wrote that in the light of recent tragic shootings in Keyham and the island of Skye by Shotgun owners, the government would discuss the issue later in the year.
She wrote that it was 'correct to look again at the differences in the checks and consider whether changes should be made to better protect the public'.
But Tim Bonner from the country side Alliance said that every movement to make it more difficult to possess shotguns would alienate a large part of the rural community. “
He said to De Mail: 'I am very surprised that they do this – especially after all the upper shed caused by inheritance tax for farmers.
'They seem to be willing to raise policies that people in the countryside are alienating – people who honestly are the most authority -fed people you would meet because they have already passed on checks with which they can possess hunting rifles.
Minister of home office Diana Johnson (photo) said that the government would look at coordinating the rules for firearms and shotguns
Licenseeists are currently much stricter for the 140,000 firearm owners in the UK than for the 610,000 Shotgun owners (file image)
Farmers blocked Whitehall with hundreds of tractors while still organizing a protest against inheritance tax
'I told Labor MPs in the countryside of constituencies that this is a bad policy. We already have the strictest license rules in the world. There is no advantage – the government is just going to alienate a large part of the rural community. '
He added that owners of Shotgun license were already subjected to checks by the police and had to have medical checks.
Changes to this would make it more difficult and restrictive for his own shotguns, and would result in higher license costs, he added.
It came after dozens of Tory MPs wrote to the Home Secretary earlier this month to resist the 'exorbitant' rise of Shotgun certificate costs that will stack more financial pressure on farmers.
A group of 50 opposition MPs urged Yvette Cooper to issue plans to increase firearms with a maximum of 157 %, and said that Labor had mounted 'another attack in rural communities'.
Renovation of a Shotgun certificate has risen from £ 49 to £ 126, while a Shotgun subsidy will rise from £ 79.50 to £ 194.
A firearm certificate has risen from £ 62 to £ 131 and the granting of such a certificate has risen by 125 percent from £ 88 to £ 198.
The Home Office, which makes the changes without consultation, said that the increase in costs will help to tackle a police financing crisis, the Telegraph reported.
Farmers are already furious with the government for the first time in the scope of the inheritance tax.
