Written Question·Home Office·UIN 66600
Offensive Weapons: Regulation
Tabled: 10 July 2025
Answered: 18 July 2025
Question
Helen Whately
Conservative — Faversham and Mid Kent
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to review the regulation of (a) hand-held catapults and (b) slingshots with a wrist-brace attachment.
Answer
Dame Diana JohnsonI have asked Home Office officials to keep the law in this area under review. There are existing powers available for the police to tackle the misuse of catapults for anti-social behaviour or against people or property.
I understand that there is a particular concern about the misuse of catapults against wildlife. I have therefore written to Dan Zeichner MP, the relevant Minister in DEFRA, which has responsibility for the law protecting animals and birds to highlight this problem.