Why does Northern Ireland have 53,000 licensed firearms holders?

Given that shootings are rarely out of the news, a recent BBC News story on firearms ownership in NI should be a cause for concern.

El Cavador is a Slugger reader from Belfast

NI has approximately 53,000 licensed firearms holders—roughly one for every 36 people, or about 2.8% of the population. In England and Wales, the figure is closer to 0.8%. The PSNI seizes firearms from more than one licence holder per day due to concerns over continued suitability. These figures prompt an obvious question: why does NI have so many guns?

Who Owns NI’s Guns?

The demographic profile of gun owners is revealing. The vast majority (97%) of licence holders are male. People in their 50s are the largest group, but more than 300 holders are over 90, and almost 100 are under 20. Geographically, Lurgan has the highest concentration, followed by Magherafelt and Dungannon.

The 97% male figure deserves attention. Farming isn’t a 97% male occupation. Rural life isn’t 97% male. If firearms ownership were primarily about agricultural necessity—dispatching injured livestock, controlling predators—you’d expect the gender distribution to reflect the farming population. But it doesn’t. Whatever else it represents, it isn’t a cross-section of rural NI going about routine agricultural business.

Need Versus Want

The word “need” should be the bottom line here. Humane dispatch and pest control are genuine needs. However, Scottish and Welsh farmers face identical challenges, but without licensing rates comparable to those in NI. Where genuine occupational need exists, tightly drawn exemptions could meet this. Private leisure “wants”, on the other hand, can result in societal costs that are borne collectively.

The USPCA has expressed concern about the high number of licences in relation to “potential public safety and animal welfare risks.” Siobhan McHaffie, the charity’s director of operations, noted that while some animals do need to be controlled, “it should only ever be done as humanely and respectfully as possible.” The organisation would “welcome any strengthening of regulation.”

Clay pigeon shooting, target sports, and game shooting have recreational value. But sport is a want, not a need. Gary McCartney, director of Countryside Alliance Ireland, correctly observes that owning a firearm is “a responsibility and not a right.” If the principal benefit is skill and community, those ends might be met with firearms remaining at clubs rather than in private homes.

Personal Protection Weapons (PPWs) apply to a narrow category—predominantly former police and prison officers who faced genuine threats during and after the Troubles. The security rationale for this subset was, and remains, compelling. But PPWs don’t explain the broader pattern: the 97% male demographic, the geographic clustering, and the age distribution.

The Handgun Divergence

NI’s most conspicuous divergence from GB concerns handguns. Following Dunblane in 1996, GB effectively prohibited civilian handgun ownership. NI didn’t follow suit.

Handguns remain legal in this jurisdiction under licence, subject to strict requirements, medical checks, and storage inspections. Strong sanctions aren’t in question. But robust enforcement is a case against misuse, not a case for ownership. The real question is whether civilian handgun ownership should exist at all, given that closely comparable jurisdictions determined a generation ago that it shouldn’t.

The Seizure Question

The 890 seizures over two years—more than one per day—tell a story. The PSNI states these resulted from “concerns around continued suitability,” including medical changes, incidents requiring police attendance, arrests, and prosecutions.

The Committee on the Administration of Justice has questioned whether licensing criteria should be tightened. Daniel Holder, the organisation’s director, observed that seizing over a gun a day is concerning for “such a small jurisdiction,” and if persistent, “does call into question whether the criteria for issuing licences should be further tightened.”

The Countryside Alliance correctly notes that seizures can occur for procedural reasons or in response to incidents involving other household members. But if the system needs to be this vigilant—constantly adjusting, seizing, reviewing—perhaps the fundamental question is whether we need so many private guns at all.

Lessons from Elsewhere

The Plymouth inquest findings offer instructive parallels. Coroner Ian Arrow identified an “abject failure” to properly train licensing staff over nearly three decades. He found the legislative framework—which states licences “shall be granted” unless requirements aren’t met—was “at odds with public safety.” He warned that “weapons may remain in the hands of individuals who pose a danger to the public” and recommended the law reflect that owning a gun is “a privilege and not a right.”

Following the Bondi shootings, Australia, which had already implemented reforms after Port Arthur, asked whether its gun laws were still fit for purpose. NI, with a higher per capita prevalence than England and Wales and civilian handguns still permitted, hasn’t asked that question in decades.

The Conversation We Avoid

Current debates focus on administrative matters: processing times, fee structures, and digital systems. Legitimate concerns, but they accept the framework’s parameters without questioning its foundations.

A more appropriate examination would ask different questions. What explains the 97% male rate? Why does NI retain civilian handguns when GB prohibited them after Dunblane? What level of civilian ownership does NI actually need?

These questions aren’t anti-rural, anti-sport, or anti-farmer. They’re the questions any licensing regime should answer with evidence. That they’re rarely asked suggests a policy area operating on inherited assumptions rather than ongoing evaluation.

NI has shown a capacity for difficult conversations about inherited arrangements. Educational governance, policing structures, and political institutions have all undergone scrutiny. All have at least asked whether existing frameworks remain appropriate.

Firearms licensing has escaped this examination. The Countryside Alliance position—that ownership requires demonstrated justification—provides a starting point. The CAJ’s proportionality concern provides a framework. The Plymouth coroner’s insistence that gun ownership is a privilege, not a right, provides a principle.

The question isn’t whether responsible owners should face confiscation—that straw man derails serious discussion—the question is whether we really need 53,000 licensed firearms holders in NI.