Plymouth shooting: Ban pump-action weapons from homes, says MP

The Labour MP for Keyham, where five people were killed in a mass shooting, is calling for pump-action weapons to be banned from homes.

Luke Pollard said the nation's gun laws needed to change to prevent another such tragedy.

He also said medical professionals should be asked to alert gun licensing authorities if they had concerns about a gun holder's mental health.

The MP introduced his Firearms and Hate Crime Bill to Parliament on Wednesday.

His proposals come over six months after Jake Davison carried out a six-minute shooting spree in Keyham, Plymouth before taking his own life.

The five victims included Davison's mother Maxine, 51, Stephen Washington, 59, Kate Shepherd, 66, Lee Martyn, 43 and three-year-old Sophie Martyn.

It later emerged the shotgun Davison used during the killings had previously been seized and his licence revoked following concerns over an assault on two youths in September 2020.

However the licence and gun were returned to him in July 2021 after a review by Devon and Cornwall police.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating how the force approved his application and then later gave him back the licence and shotgun.

Mr Pollard told MPs that the shooting had "devastated the tight-knit communities" of his Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency.

"We never want this to happen to another community ever again," he said.

His bill would prohibit the keeping of pump-action firearms in the home - although there would be exemptions for farmers and pest controllers.

It would also place a duty on medical professionals to report any concerns around a gun holder's mental health to the gun licensing authorities so their suitability to hold a gun can be reviewed.

The MP said he did not see "any good reason" why someone would need to keep such weapons in their home.

"I want to rid our communities or these dangerous and unnecessary weapons," he told MPs.

Mr Pollard said that following the shooting "big hearts had prevailed" but now was the time for "cool heads" to change the country's laws.

The proposed legislation would also make misogyny a hate crime, which Mr Pollard said was a step towards tackling "the rotten cesspit of hate" online which taught young men "to channel their frustration into an insidious hatred for women".

His proposed law passed its first stage unopposed; however, as he is a backbench MP, his bill is unlikely to become law.

Following the shooting in Plymouth, the government said that from 1 November 2021, all firearms applications should be accompanied by a medical document signed by a practising doctor.

Applicants' social media, financial history and any domestic violence history would also be reviewed, the government said.