New Government airgun laws are an attack on law abiding shooters that will fail to eradicate gun crime, claim members of the Perthshire gun community.
New legislation will make it a criminal offence to have an air weapon without a licence or permit from December 31 this year.
Anyone found guilty of the new offence could be fined or face up to two years in prison. Owners will be able to apply to Police Scotland for an air weapon certificate from July 1.
However, members of the Perthshire gun community are up in arms over the new legislation which they believe will affect the long term future of the sport and have no impact on the people who commit offences with airguns.
Owner of Perth gunshop PD Malloch, John Buntin, said: “This is not going to stop people committing offences. There are always going to be guns on the street that people can get a hold of.
“If you’re a drink driver and run over somebody and kill them does everybody who drives cars get penalised? No.
“If anyone breaks the law individually or as a group then they are a taken to task but if one person does something wrong with a gun then everybody is taken to task.
“People who come into this sport all started off with an air rifle and built up while learning the safety aspects of it. There’s a lack of youngsters as it is and this is only going to increase the problem of introducing people to the sport.”
It is estimated that there are about 500,000 unlicensed air weapons in Scotland.
The Scottish government pledged to introduce the licensing scheme following the death of Glasgow toddler Andrew Morton, who was killed by an airgun in 2005.
The two-year-old died after being hit on the head with an airgun pellet near his home in the Easterhouse area of the city.
Police Scotland’s surrender campaign for unwanted air weapons saw a total of 6,000 rifles handed in during its first two weeks.
Perth Gun Club member Phil Hannah believes both the amnesty and the new airgun rules are flawed.
He said: “I’m not handing my £400 gun in to the police for nothing. It is totally flawed. They’re walking over everyone and not listening.
“We have paid money for our hobby and don’t go out shooting people in the street. There are very strict control laws in the UK about the use of air rifles, which I thought were adequate. This new legislation is making us give up our hobby.
“It’s an added tax. It’s not going to stop 17 and 18-year-old kids shooting at people out of windows which has happened in Perth in the past.
“It’s only going to move guns to people who shouldn’t have them and responsible people like myself, who are part of Perth Gun Club, are being penalised.”
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) opposed the introduction of the new laws, claiming they were ‘disproportionate’ and that airgun offences were declining.
Director BASC Scotland Colin Shedden said: “However, with the legislation now in place, and licences to be made available from July, we will do all that we can to help the many legitimate air weapon users in Scotland adapt to the new licensing regime.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The licensing regime will enable a fit person to obtain a licence to own, possess and shoot an air weapon in a regulated way, without compromising public safety, while setting appropriate penalties to deal with any person who contravenes the new law.
“From July 1 2016 people will be able to make an advance application for an air weapon certificate, or a permit in some cases, to the Police Service of Scotland.
“The certificates themselves and the other provisions of the air weapons legislation will come into force fully on 31 December.”
