Make the sale of catapults/ammunition and carrying catapults in public illegal.
Make it illegal to carry catapults in public places, so the police can arrest those carrying, especially in areas of known wildlife crime, regardless if ammunition is found or not.
Signatures
24,521
signatures
Government response threshold (10,000) · 10,000/10,000 · reached
Debate threshold (100,000) · 24,521/100,000
- 27 MAY 2025Petition closedFinal total: 24,521 signatures
- 03 APR 2025Government respondedHome OfficeGovernment reply
The Government will keep this issue under review, balancing the concern over the need to protect wildlife from the minority who misuse catapults, with respect for their legitimate use by anglers.
Read full response - 09 MAR 202510,000 signatures reachedEligible for a government response
- 27 NOV 2024Petition opened for signatures
Background
Also ban companies selling catapults and ammunition in the UK, so they are not so easily accessible.
I am an wildlife rescuer and believe we are currently in a wildlife crime pandemic. There has been an increase in reports of wildlife being attacked by groups of youths carrying catapults and ball bearings.
75% of my call outs are due to apparent abuse of wildlife offences.
We think the law needs to change to give the Police more powers to arrest those carrying catapults.