[nativepaul]

yeah you need a licence to buy a shotgun over here and that license will stipulate a maximum amount of ammo that you are allowed to own at any one time, also semi auto shotguns are illegal and pump guns over here have short bottom tubes as a shotgun is only allowed a 3 shot capacity, the requirements for a shotgun liscence are not stringent tho, you just need no criminal record and the police to say your not the local unconvicted troublemaker, if you have a genuine use for a shotgun, ie your a farmer not someone that wants to hunt or shoot clays you can even get one with a criminal record as long as there is no violent offences on it.

Firearms licences (rifles and pistols) are a lot more stringent, you need to have a clean record and local police consent, to have been an active member of a nationally recognised shooting club for at least two years, be signed off by at least 2 members of that club including a regesterd committee member and have a charachter referance from at least 2 "persons of high standing" eg doctor, policeman, magistrate that have known you for at least ten years.
that will get you a single shot eg martini or bolt action full bore rifle, max 5 round magazine or .22 rimfire semi auto max 10 round magazine if you can demonstrate good reason like your a farmer or gamekeeper.

That $%*&ing *"$£^& Tony Blair banned all cartridge pistols a while back tho through a loophole you can still get muzzle loading blackpowder cap and ball pistols, my dad has one a reproduction colt and very surprisingly it's pretty much as accurate as as my 357 was.