AN eight-year-old is the youngest person in the country to be allowed a shotgun.
New figures show the child is among 303 people aged under 13 who have got certificates to keep the powerful weapons.
Another 3,053 teens under 17 have got shotgun or firearm licences.
The Home Office report said: “People aged 13 and under cannot lawfully hold a firearm certificate. There is no minimum age to hold a shotgun certificate.”
Young people can have guns “for sporting purposes, for use at a rifle/pistol club or cadet corps, or at a miniature rifle range”.
Overall there were 572,488 shotgun certificates in England and Wales as at March 31st this year and 159,745 firearm certificates.
Both figures increased slightly in the past year but the number of firearm licences revoked increased by 9 per cent.
