Handguns are banned. Shotguns are relatively easy to obtain a license for (albeit with a reference check, medical history check, criminal record check and in-h

Handguns are banned. Shotguns are relatively easy to obtain a license for (albeit with a reference check, medical history check, criminal record check and in-home-interview by police). Bolt action rifles (generally only .22) licensing is more stringent. Anything beyond that is theoretically possible but in practice not. Some 580k people possess such firearms licenses in the UK[0]. Depending on who you believe estimates of illegal gun ownership range from a few thousand[1] to half-a-million[2]. That’s dwarfed by most other countries, but none of those figures are anywhere near zero. Gun crime is still generally considered to be a Big Thing and reported as such in the media. Something like this story is juicy enough to sell page impression and print newspapers. [0] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/firearm-and-shotgun-certificates-in-england-and-wales-financial-year-ending-march-2017/firearm-and-shotgun-certificates-in-england-and-wales-financial-year-ending-march-2017#headline-figures https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/firearm-and-shotg... [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/28/rising-number-of-guns-being-smuggled-into-uk-metropolitan-police-say https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/28/rising-number-... [2] https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/4-million-guns-uk-streets-7598164 https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/4-million-guns-uk-stre...