At last...stricter checks on gun licences

Campaigner hails crackdown

- BY LIZZY BUCHAN

EMMA Ambler, whose twin sister and two nieces were shot dead with a legally owned gun, has praised a new crackdown on owning firearms announced by Jess Phillips.

Emma, 45, told the Mirror she felt the government is finally listening to calls for urgent action to strengthen the gun licensing laws that had failed to protect her family.

Home Office minister Ms Phillips invited Emma to her home in Birmingham yesterday to discuss new controls on gun ownership.

Emma's twin Kelly Fitzgibbons was shot dead by her partner Robert Needham, along with their daughters Ava, four, and Lexi, two, and the family dog Billy, at their home in Woodmancote, West Sussex, in March 2020.

Needham, who then turned the gun on himself, had been granted a shotgun licence despite being caught lying on his application about a previous conviction and about treatment for depression. NHS worker Emma said: "When I found out how easy it was for him to get that gun, despite certain circumstances, that's what motivated me to do some campaigning. Because it just felt so wrong."

The mother-of-two went on: "What made me really angry is I said to the police officer, 'How has he been able to get that gun licence?' And I always remember their reply was, 'Loads of people lie on gun applications for various reasons'.