The Sentencing Council has launched a public consultation on sentencing guidelines for firearms offences, to be used the Crown Court and magistrates’ courts in England and Wales.

It is consulting judges, magistrates, probation, police, prosecution and defence lawyers and others interested in the sentencing of these offences.

The consultation runs from 9 October 2019 to 14 January 2020.

The aim of the guidelines, which will apply to adult offenders in England and Wales, is to ensure consistency in sentencing and appropriate sentence levels for the unlawful possession of firearms.

Firearms offences are serious. Some offences carry life imprisonment, some carry sentences of up to 10 years, and some require minimum sentences of five years. But there’s currently no sentencing guidelines in the Crown Court and only one for use in magistrates’ courts.