(Plymouth, Sutton and
Devonport) (Lab/Co-op)
I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to prohibit the keeping of
pump action firearms in homes, with exemptions for professional
pest controllers and farmers; to make provision about medical
requirements for holders of firearms certificates; to make
provision about the disclosure of mental health concerns relating
to holders of firearms certificates; to extend offences of
stirring up hatred to cover hatred on the basis of sex or gender;
to make motivation by misogyny an aggravating factor in
sentencing for violent crimes; and for connected purposes.
It has been more than six months since the first shots were fired
in Keyham in Plymouth. On that day—12 August—we tragically lost
five members of our community. I want to remember them now:
Maxine Davison, Stephen Washington, Kate Shepherd, and Lee Martyn
and his three-year-old daughter, Sophie Martyn. We also remember
two others who were injured and taken to hospital that day.
This incident has devastated the proud and tight-knit communities
of Keyham and Ford. I have already spoken in the House about the
pain and hurt caused to our community. Plymouth has faced a
collective trauma. We know that there were nearly 300
eyewitnesses to the shootings—people who saw a body or blood on
their streets—and many of them were children, who have seen
things that no child should ever witness. Biddick Drive, where
the shooting began in Keyham, could be any street in any of our
communities. That is what makes this so scary, and that is why we
need to be sure that it never happens again.
I have been pleased and proud to see the community in Keyham come
together to support and help each other. People from across our
city have worked together across party lines for a Team Plymouth
approach. I am pleased that together we have secured £1.8 million
for Keyham by working with the Government. That money has been
spent on social workers, educational psychologists, counsellors,
extra policing and home security upgrades to make people feel
safe in their homes again. On top of that, thousands has been
raised by the community for the Plymouth Together fund.
Keyham is still grieving, but through that grief comes clarity.
We never want this to happen to any other community again. For
that, we need to learn the lessons of this tragedy. Our community
awaits the invaluable work of the inquest and the result of the
investigations by the Independent Office for Police Conduct and
Devon and Cornwall police, but we do not need to wait to act.
In the months after the tragedy, Ministers changed gun laws to
require gun certificates to be signed by a GP and a social media
check to take place on those applying for a certificate. Those
changes are welcome. Today, I present the first part of what we
are calling Keyham’s law—a set of proposals that I hope and
expect will expand over time. It has been a privilege to work on
the proposals with many of the family members of the victims,
many of whom are watching from the Gallery today; others are
watching live from Plymouth. I pay tribute to them for the
steadfast way in which they have conducted themselves. Grief is
painful, but, under the glare of international media, it can be
even more stark and difficult. I am very proud of them.
The first part of Keyham’s law has three proposals. The first is
a ban on pump-action shotguns and pump-action rifles being kept
in homes. The second is to introduce a requirement that medical
records and gun certificates be linked, with a requirement for
medical professionals to report any concerns about a gun holder’s
mental health to the gun licensing authorities so that their
suitability for holding a gun licence can be reviewed. The third
is to adopt the Law Commission’s proposals to make violent
misogyny a hate crime.
The first proposal is to ban pump-action shotguns from being kept
in homes. A person can apply for a gun certificate from the age
of 14. In answers to parliamentary questions, the Home Office
confirmed that there are 23,955 current certificates for
pump-action shotguns and 1,918 current certificates for
pump-action rifles on issue in England. One certificate can allow
its holder to keep many guns.
I do not see any good reason why anyone in Britain should need a
pump-action weapon in their home. My Bill would change the law
and require pump-action weapons to be held in a gun club or a gun
shop. That would have the effect of removing pump-action weapons
from residential areas. I recognise that there may be a need for
limited exceptions. When a gun certificate holder can demonstrate
a legitimate reason for keeping these weapons in their home—those
who work as a farmer or pest controller, for instance—there
should be a permitted exemption, but I do not envisage many of
them. I want to rid our communities of these dangerous and
unnecessary pump-action weapons that are currently held in homes
throughout the country.
The second proposal is to link medical records to gun
certificates. People experiencing a mental health crisis should
not have access to a gun, for the safety of themselves and
others. We need a legal requirement for concerns about an
individual’s mental health to be shared with the police if they
have a gun. Progress is being made—slowly—in that respect, but my
Bill seeks to go further. That means a simple marker on a
person’s medical records, introduced and maintained by law. If
any concerns were flagged about that individual’s mental health,
the medical professional would be required to notify the gun
licensing authority for a review of their suitability to have a
gun, for their own safety and that of others.
At present, GPs are asked to confirm only that there are no
health conditions or reasons that would prevent someone from
receiving a gun certificate on application, and perhaps again on
renewal, but they can be five years apart. I have heard of cases
where no supporting statement has been provided but gun
certificates have still been issued. Omission must never be a
reason for approval. That link should be not just at the point of
application; there must be a legal requirement to maintain a
connection so that concerns that arise can be acted on swiftly.
There is precedent for that: that is what happens when, for
instance, heavy goods vehicle drivers present with a serious
health concern; and a similar system already exists in Northern
Ireland.
Mr Speaker, I know that parliamentary rules prohibit me from
seeking to raise taxes or charges in the Bill, but I do believe
that the fee for a gun certificate needs reviewing, embracing
full cost recovery, with the greater fee paying for a better gun
licensing system than the one we have today.
The third and final proposal in Keyham’s law is to make violent
misogyny a hate crime. Incel culture is a sickness that is being
allowed to creep its way into the lives of far too many young
men. Festering in the dark corners of the internet, they are
being taught to channel their frustration into an insidious
hatred for women. Incel culture is a cancer that is growing. It
is a rotten cesspit of hate, loathing and anger, and, if we are
to tackle it, we need to better understand the extent of the
problem. How do we stop our young men going down the path towards
hate? What is the cure for this terrible disease? I would like to
discuss with Ministers the commissioning of new research into
incel culture. That would help to inform the Government’s work on
violence against women and girls. Britain does not yet have a
full strategy to tackle incel culture or the resourcing to make
inroads, but, on a cross-party basis, I think that we need one.
That is why, though discussing our community’s pain and loss is
difficult, we must not shy away from being part of that
conversation or having our voices heard.
I am presenting the first part of Keyham’s law, but this is the
start of a campaign, not its end. It is not an exhaustive list or
a final set of requirements to change gun laws. The campaign may
take some time, but I am so pleased that it is a cross-Plymouth
and, importantly, a cross-party campaign backed by so many MPs
from across the country who share concerns about our nation’s gun
laws. I look forward to meeting the Minister responsible for this
area later today alongside the families of the victims of the
shooting. I hope that he will see the merit in taking further
steps to reform gun laws to keep us all safe.
Big hearts have prevailed in giving Keyham the support that we
have needed to date, and I thank everyone for that support. Now,
cool heads must prevail as we change our nation’s gun laws for
the better so that we can stop a tragedy like this ever taking
place again.
Question put and agreed to.
Ordered,
That , , , , , , , , , , and present the Bill.
accordingly presented the
Bill.
Bill read the first time; to be read a Second time on Friday 18
March, and to be printed (Bill 265).
