A survey last week showed that gun ownership in the east of England has risen by almost a third in just six-years and more than 65,000 firearms are registered in Norfolk.

The news came as a shock to anti-gun campaigners who immediately called for a reduction in gun-ownership and a new law governing gun registration.

Opponents called for a national register for the country’s existing guns so weapons can be traced in the same way that cars are.

Mr Bellingham is a keen shooter and is president of King’s Lynn Wildfowlers.
He said the vast majority of guns in the area were for sport and a reduction in the number of guns would not necessarily lead to a reduction in gun crime levels.

He said: “It has become more and more difficult to get a gun. Restrictions have been very very tight. I wouldn’t advocate higher controls on gun ownership… something like 99 per cent of gun crimes are committed with illegal weapons.”
Mike Yardley, of Shooting Sports Trust, said procedures for obtaining a firearm were already “very rigorous”.
He said: “To register a gun you have to apply to the police, you need a counter-signed form, your doctor’s name and address and you would have to provide proper security to store the gun.”
He added: “This is an incredibly safe sport. Safer than golf and fishing. One of the safest of all sports and highly controlled.”

Alun Howard of International Action Network on Small Arms, said: “We would like to see fewer guns in East Anglia and a national register for guns to link guns found anywhere with the original owner.”
Mr Bellingham claimed most people had the wrong impression of shooting clubs and said the club was not simply full of landowners and farmers.

He said: “Most people are not shooting people. A lot of our members live in Lynn and North Lynn and are not farmers, they are also people from other professions.”