The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Gunning for change
Next week, plans to licence the estimated half-million air weapons in Scotland are expected to pass into law. Is this an important safety step or more needless red tape, Jack McKeown asks
Are you one of the estimated halfmillion Scots who own an air weapon?
If so, it could soon be illegal for you to do so without a licence. Legislation due to be voted on in the Scottish Parliament next week would introduce a licencing regime.
Pressure has been growing to regulate the weapons since 2005, when twoyear old Andrew Morton was shot in the head with an airgun in Glasgow.
The toddler died in hospital two days after being hit in the head with a pellet fired by Mark Bonini, then 27, in the city’s Easterhouse area.
Bonini was convicted of murdering the little boy and sentenced to life in jail.
Since the killing, Andrew’s mother Sharon McMillan has led calls for air weapons to be banned in Scotland.
A draft bill to licence air weapons in Scotland was put forward by former Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill and carried forward by his successor Michael Matheson.
It has passed through the committee stage of the legislation process and on Thursday it will come before the Scottish Parliament to be voted into law.
Dangerous
Under the proposed new scheme, anyone wanting to own an air gun would have to demonstrate they had a legitimate reason for doing so.
These reasons include pest control, sporting target shooting or being a collector.
The bill creates a number of new offences related to possession, use and acquisition of air weapons by people who do not hold a licence, or who do not act in accordance with the licensing regime. It also sets out how Police Scotland may grant an air weapon licence to appropriate individuals.
Kevin Stewart, convener of the Local Government and Regeneration Committee, which has brought the bill forward, said the time was right to introduce a licensing system.
He said: “There is no doubt air weapons are dangerous.
“Recently, a rail worker and a firefighter were shot as they carried out their jobs and this kind of incident happens far too often.
“That is why we welcome plans to introduce a licensing regime for air weapons. It is a timely and important piece of work.”
The committee has recommended there must be a “clear and comprehensive public information campaign” ahead of the introduction of a licensing regime.
Police recorded 171 offences involving airguns in 2012-13, the lowest total since comparable records began in 1980.
However, Police Scotland insists a licencing system would be beneficial. It said: “The bill is about ensuring that inappropriate people do not get access to lethal barrelled weapons that can, by definition, kill.
“The case of Andrew Morton is a tragic example of what can happen when the wrong people have access to lethal barrelled weapons.
“Thankfully, such tragic incidents are very rare but on most days the police and animal welfare groups have to deal with the results of air weapons being misused.
“Legislation that allows for responsible ownership of air weapons is to be welcomed.
“Air weapons in irresponsible hands are dangerous and keeping people safe is the priority for Police Scotland.”
Administrative burden
However, not everyone is keen on the proposals.
With more than 140,000 members, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation is the UK’s biggest shooting organisation.
BASC director Scotland Colin Shedden said: “Police Scotland is known to be struggling to commit resources to a wide range of criminal activity but will be committed to a significant administrative burden if air weapon licensing is implemented.
“To put this in context, air weapons account for just 11 out of 51,869 (0.02%) crimes of vandalism, eight out of 1,499 (0.5%) robberies and 182 out of 273,053 (0.06%) crimes in Scotland.
“There are an estimated 500,000 air weapons in Scotland – only a handful are used in criminal actions.”