'Catastrophic failures' led to Plymouth shootings

Senior police officers, families of shooting victims and anti-gun campaigners have called for a "radical reform" of the firearms licensing system, after an inquest jury found "catastrophic" failings allowed the Plymouth gunman Jake Davison to legally possess a shotgun that he used to kill five people.

- Steven Morris

Pressure is mounting on the UK government to overhaul the 50-year-old licensing legislation and ensure police forces are adequately funded to allow them to fully examine the suitability of gun owners.

Speaking after the inquest, relatives of his victims described the actions of Davison, who was fascinated with corrosive "incel" (involuntary celibate) culture, previous mass shootings and serial murderers, as "pure evil" but said he had been given a "licence to kill" by Devon and Cornwall police.

They also argued the home secretary, Suella Braverman, would be "betraying" them if she did not reform the system.

They said: "There needs to be radical reform. That means fewer guns in circulation with robust safeguards."

It has emerged that senior officers believe that there are still "many" firearms in the hands of people who should not have them despite the former home secretary Priti Patel ordering them to look again at cases where they returned firearms to people after confiscating them.

Only two forces, one of them Devon and Cornwall, removed guns from owners after re-examining cases. A senior Devon and Cornwall officer, Ch Supt Roy Linden, accepted this meant there were "many guns" in the hands of people who should not have them. Warwickshire's chief constable, Debbie Tedds, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead on firearms licensing, said she was "really concerned" about this.

Alarm bells have also rung because the number of shotgun certificate applications Devon and Cornwall is now rejecting has doubled since the Plymouth shootings while the rate in the rest of England and Wales has remained at just 3%.

The new chief constable of Devon and Cornwall, Will Kerr - who came into post the year after Davison's attacks, is among those calling for fundamental change.