DERBYSHIRE'S police and crime commissioner has said the public should not be funding those who choose to shoot as a hobby.
Alan Charles' comments come as figures show the number of people applying for firearm or shotgun licences in the county has risen to almost 16,000.
He said he would "continue to lobby" that the Government should pay the administrative cost of issuing new licences, the responsibility of which currently lies with the police.
Derbyshire Police said it "does not know the full cost" of granting the licences but once the figure has been established, it would want the Home Office to recoup the cash.
Mr Charles said: "The public purse should in no way be supporting people who want to go shooting.
"There has been a lot of work done around this and there is a suggestion that the cost of issuing a licence should go up. But I also understand that the Prime Minister wants to kick this out.
"I think it is totally wrong that we should be supporting this and I will continue to lobby against it."
A report, prepared for Mr Charles and discussed at a public meeting with senior officers, heard that there are 15,840 licences that have been issued in Derbyshire.
The number sees a rise from 15,450 the previous year and 15,420 in 2011-2012.
In 2013-2014, 854 people applied for new firearms or shotgun licences, nine of which were refused, and a further 945 licences were renewed.
The report said: "The initial granting of a firearm or shotgun licence cost the applicant £50 and £40 for a renewal.
"Should an application be refused, the fee is returned to the applicant.
"The actual costs to the force of granting a firearm or shotgun licence is currently not known, although national work is on-going into the full cost.
"It is anticipated that once the cost has been established and agreed by the Home Secretary, Derbyshire Constabulary will move to a 'full cost recovery' position."
The meeting, held at Derbyshire Police headquarters, in Ripley, heard that, on the granting of a licence, every police database is checked for "relevant intelligence".
The meeting was also told that the number of incidents of gun crime in the last year has dropped from 204 in 2012-2013 to 197 in 2013-2014.
These are incidents in which a firearm or imitation firearm had been used or found illegally.
And there have been no fatal shootings in Derbyshire for six years.
A police spokesman said: "A firearm or shotgun applicant is visited and their referees contacted to fully inform the risk assessment.
"The certificate holder's suitability is not then checked for five years, when it is due to be renewed, unless they come to police notice during the interim period, in which case their suitability and risk is re-assessed."
Ashley Cumberland, who is the joint-owner of Lowes Lane clay shooting ground in Swarkestone, said: "I would like to think that the cost paid by the individual who applies for the licence covers the administrative cost of the police but without seeing their financial accounts would be unable to say if that was the case or not."
