Chief Constable Gary Roberts has said that firearms legislation in the Isle of Man is ‘no longer fit for the contemporary world’.

The primary act is around 70 years old and the law which covers shotguns is 30 years old.

Speaking to a Tynwald committee, Mr Roberts said: ‘Whereas on handguns and rifles we licence the individual, and the weapon and the ammunition, with shotguns and air weapons and crossbows we licence the individual and he or she could have dozens of weapons that we don’t know about.’

Mr Roberts referred to a case in the south of the island about three years ago concerning a person who ‘began to suffer from dementia quite quickly’.

The individual threatened to shoot the postman which left their family very concerned.

He said: ‘We went into their home and they had 60 odd shotguns.

‘The law here doesn’t put a duty on medical professionals to share with the police concerns they have about the mental health of people who hold weapons.

‘I’m absolutely not anti-shooting, I think shooting has a place in a community like the Isle of Man, absolutely has a place, but the law is now outdated and needs to be modernised.’