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Nearly 4,000 British youngsters have shotgun licences, a Mirror investigation has found.

The figure was revealed as part of a probe into the true extent of gun ownership in the UK.

Home Office statistics revealed there are 1.3 million legal shotguns in England and Wales alone.

And we discovered 3,982 youngsters, all below the age of 18, have been granted shotgun certificates.

The Daily Mirror requested an age breakdown but the Home Office refused on technical grounds.

However in 2011 it was revealed 13 children aged under 10 were issued them. The youngest was just seven. There is no minimum age for applying for a certificate in the UK.

While most youngsters have the certificates for clay pigeon shooting or gamekeeping, Gun Control Network’s Gill Marshall-Andrews said: “Youngsters with access to shotguns should always be worrying.”

(Image: Alamy Stock Photo)

The revelation emerged as the National Crime Agency was ordered to prioritise a firearms crackdown amid fears of a Paris-style terror attack in the UK.

Our investigation revealed there are 1.8 million legal guns in England and Wales. But gun experts believe that illegal weapons push the figure to more than four million for the whole of Britain.

Read more:Victim's friend tried to save him after submachine gun attack

Professor Peter Squires, of the National Police Chief’s Council independent advisory group on the criminal use of firearms, said yesterday: “It will come as quite a shock for people to see a number like this.

“We think of ourselves as a non-gun culture, but you must remember every time there has been an atrocity people have been shocked that the gunmen had access to the kind of weapons they did.”

Prof Squires estimated there were around 500,000 illegal firearms on Britain’s streets, including a “grey pool” of antique weapons and war souvenirs from pensioners.

(Image: Getty)

He added: “If you then consider the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and add Scotland into the mix it is very logical to conclude there are over four million weapons in the country.”

And it is believed criminals have turned to antique weapons as their firearm of choice.

Referring to the Dunblane massacre in 1996, when Thomas Hamilton killed 16 schoolchildren and a teacher, forensic scientist Ann Kiernan said: “Following Dunblane a lot of handguns were deactivated, but not very well, so criminals managed to replace working parts easily.

“When that avenue was shut down they moved to imitation firearms, which could also be converted, but then this was clamped down on. So what we see a lot nowadays is the use of antique weapons in crimes.”

Ms Marshall-Andrews set up Gun Control Network the wake of the Hungerford massacre in which loner Michael Ryan killed 16 people in 1987 in the Berkshire town.

She said of children’s shotgun certificates: “In a way it is a historical hangover that we just can’t seem to shake.”

(Image: Rex)

Referring to people who pay large sums to go game hunting on estates, she added: “The parents want their children to be brought up to do the same thing so they start them off early. It is part of a culture and a way of life many in rural settings want to perpetuate.”

Liam Stokes, head of shooting campaigns for the Countryside Alliance, said: “Legally held guns aren’t dangerous. We have some of the world’s most stringent gun control laws in the UK, and our national record for safety and low levels of gun crime are testament to that.

“We fully support efforts to crack down on terrorism and criminality, but that’s a world apart from legal shooting.

“When discussing young people and shotguns it’s important to remember that people aged 15 and under legally have to be supervised by someone aged 21 or over, and no one under the age of 18 can buy a gun or ammunition.

“Young people hold Shotgun Certificates so they can legally be coached in safe shooting and allow them to get a safe, supervised start in these fantastic sports and ensure the next generation of game shooters and Olympians.”

Firearms certificates cover any lethal barrelled weapon from which any shot, bullet or other missile can be discharged.

Shotgun certificates cover any smooth bore weapon such as pump-action, self-loading or semi-automatic shotguns.