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A crackdown on gun sellers led to two firearms dealers losing their sales certificates over fears about how they stored supplies.

Specialist officers visited Merseyside's registered dealers in a week of action, finding issues with two of the premises.

Almost two dozen gun owners were also subjected to surprise visits to check their collections were being stored safely.

Merseyside had 16 registered gun dealers at the time of the operation, including sports and gun shops, shooting clubs and armouries.

They were each visited to see whether legislation around storage, ownership and record-keeping was being complied with.

All stock was checked against a dealers register and specialist architectural officers investigated whether properties were secure.

As a result, one dealer was removed from the register and had their personal firearms certificate revoked after an insecure weapon and parts were found in their property.

A second dealer was also removed from the register and their certificates withdrawn over ammunition storage issues.

More than 12,000 guns are legally owned on Merseyside and a second week of action saw 23 firearms and shotgun certificate owners who own multiple weapons visited and security checks carried out by officers.

A warning letter was issued to one person whose explosives licence had expired and a full survey carried out at a property where the security did not meet the required standard.

The visits had led to claims Merseyside Police was breaching Home Office guidance by conducting unannounced "spot checks".

The UK’s largest shooting organisation – the British Association for Shooting and Conservation - said any checks must be linked to specific intelligence and has written to Chief Constable Andy Cooke to query the tactics used in the operation.

Following the operation, Assistant Chief Constable Ian Critchley said: “We have a responsibility for public safety and ensuring that everyone who legitimately owns a firearm or ammunition is correctly registered and abides by the legislation.

“This is not about preventing people from legally holding firearms but about ensuring firearms are correctly and safely stored and this activity has been very successful in reducing the risk to the communities of Merseyside.

“Nationally there is concern that lawfully-held firearms are finding their way into criminal hands which is why it is important that operations such as these are carried out regularly to identify anyone who is not abiding by the law and in doing so is putting themselves or other people at risk.

“During our second week of action it became apparent that some certificate holders had become blasé in their approach to security of their guns and their home, which leaves them in a vulnerable position and poses a risk to public safety.

“It also became apparent that they were not using all of their guns and two certificate holders have now reduced the amount in their possession – with 10 in total either being sold or destroyed by Merseyside Police.

“There is ongoing work by certificate holders to continue to reduce the amount of weapons in their possession due to them not being used.”