Last updated at 10:01 20 December 2007

A nine-year-old boy was granted a shotgun licence by police who claimed he was "responsible enough" to own the weapon.

Shocked anti-gun campaigners have branded the decision allowing the boy to fire the deadly weapon as "totally absurd".

The boy can legally shoot at targets, as well as game and vermin.

But in the wake of rising gun violence among youngsters the move has been branded "totally absurd".

The licence was granted by Norfolk Police in August 2006, but has only just come to light after a journalist sought the information under the Freedom of Information Act.

The boy, who cannot be named, but lives in Walsingham, Norfolk, is believed to have been one of the youngest in the country to be granted a licence to shoot the powerful weapon.

Jill Marshall Andrews, chair of the Gun Control Network, criticised the decision.

She said: "We have long been campaigning for guns to be available only to those over 18.

"It is totally absurd. No one that young could possibly be responsible for a gun. We should be trying to make guns less available to the young not more.

"Guns and young people are not meant to mix."

North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb said he was "surprised at the number of licences granted to under-16s".

The Liberal Democrat MP said he would be calling for a meeting with the firearms manager of Norfolk Police.

Mr Lamb said: "Norfolk is a farming community and I can understand why in some circumstances it could be appropriate to grant a licence.

"Every family has to make the judgement on whether it is safe and appropriate for their children to use guns.

"Personally I would make a different judgement, but I'm not in a position to blame that specific family without knowing all the details.

"I will meet the Norfolk firearms officer to discuss this case and ask whether Norfolk grants more licences to young people than other counties."

He added: "Combating gun crime is desperately important and is one of the biggest social crises in our country.

"But it is usually perpetrated by people who hold guns illegally.

"Gun violence in London, Manchester and Birmingham, particularly involving children, is truly shocking."

Richard Dennison, Norfolk Police firearms manager, defended the force's action.

He said: "This boy is the youngest we have granted a licence to in at least five years.

"There are no specific conditions on shotgun licences.

"If he got it for target shooting there is nothing to stop him shooting game and vermin. Once you get the licence you can use it for any legal purpose."

But Mr Dennison reassured local people that police followed guidelines to the letter.

"A firearms officer interviews every person applying for a licence in their own home to check they are responsible enough to hold a gun. In cases of young people we sometimes also speak to their school to check their good character.

"I stress to the community that we are here to keep them safe," he said.

"Until they turn 15 licence holders are not allowed to own a gun of their own and must be supervised by someone aged over 21 at all times.

"And the guns must be kept securely so that others cannot access them."

Figures released by Norfolk Police under a Freedom of Information request yesterday revealed 243 under-16s have been granted firearm licences in the last five years.

Mr Dennison said: "There is no lower age limit restricting gun licences.

"In theory children as young as two could be granted a licence because the application requires the signature of someone who has known the applicant for at least two years.

"In the eight years I have been working here I have never come across a case where someone who held a legal licence was involved in a firearm crime."

Some 21,000 people in Norfolk hold a shotgun licence and about 3,800 hold licences for other firearms, such as rifles.

William Heal, Eastern Regional Director of British Association of Shooting and Conservation (BASC), said: "Only children who can prove they are safe and responsible will be granted licences.

"If we are going to produce more gold medal champions, like Mick Gault, they need to learn when they are young."

Last month the EU passed a directive restricting gun possession to those aged 18 and over.

The directive must be transposed into UK law by January 2010.