Mother of boy killed with air rifle says she's 'over the moon' as government sets out plans to strengthen firearms laws

Plans for tough new laws governing air weapons have been announced by the government - less than 24 hours after the mother of Stanley Metcalf, the six year old boy from East Yorkshire who was shot and killed by an air rifle, spoke directly to the Home Secretary.

Ever since her son Stanley's death, Jenny Lees has campaigned for Stanley's Law - legislation to make it illegal to own a gun without a certificate.

Stanley Metcalf was killed by his great grandfather, Albert Grannon, at a family gathering in Sproatley in East Yorkshire in 2018 after he accidentally fired his rifle.

Stanley was hit in the stomach and died less than two hours later. Grannon is now serving a three year prison sentence for Stanley's manslaughter.

In a pivotal moment for her campaign, Jenny met with Home Secretary Priti Patel online yesterday, desperate to convince her a change needs to be made. Today, the Government has set out new proposals to strengthen firearms laws and protect the public in a consultation.

This includes new controls on air weapons, aimed at keeping them out the hands of unsupervised young persons. It will also close loopholes which currently mean owners of small gun ranges can buy weapons without informing the police or having a licence. 

Policing Minister Kit Malthouse said:

The new air weapons controls being consulted on will include:

• Removing exemptions which allow people from the age of 14 to have unsupervised possession of air weapons on private premises

• Making it an offence to fail to lock up an air weapon and its ammunition separately in the presence of under-18s while not in use

• Working with industry and retailers to improve the safe keeping of air weapons and advice at the point of sale

Jenny tells Calendar's Duncan Wood her reaction to today's announcement: